Dark Side of the Moon
by 12 Withering Roses
Summary: Several months have passed. Beth and Mick are engaged, as are Dante and Rory. Everyone is living happily ever after until a serial killer who likes to play mind games shows up and wreaks havoc on everyone's lives. Sequel to Night Stalkers.
1. Happily Ever After Or Is It?

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz!

AN: Okay, so, as I promised, here's the sequel for Night Stalkers. For those of you who don't read Someone Else's Life, I figure I may as well give you the same speech here that I gave in the first chapter of that. I'm trying something new…writing two stories at the same time. So, forgive me if updates are sporadic and take a while. With each chapter, I'm alternating between stories. That way, I can hopefully get through both and be able to write a third idea I have floating around. My creativity level is good lately, so I'm going with the flow while it lasts. Anyway, without further ado…chapter one of 'Dark Side of the Moon.'

Rory Callaghan stirred. It was time for her to wake up, she knew…but she wanted nothing more than to stay right where she was…in her nice, comfortable freezer, curled up next to the man she loved more than anything in the world. She smiled as she looked down at the engagement ring on her finger and up into the sleeping face of Dante Masters. He looked so peaceful while he was sleeping. His arms were wrapped protectively around her. Part of her wanted to move, to get up and grab a bite to eat, but she stayed where she was. She didn't want to wake him.

About half an hour passed, and she lay there simply staring at him. Then, he stirred, opening his eyes halfway and looking down into her face. He blinked sleepily, smiling as he did so.

"How long have you been watching me?"

"A while." Rory replied simply. She smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Dante's lips. She couldn't help but allow her mind to float back to that terrifying day a little over six months ago when she very nearly lost him. She wasn't entirely sure what she'd have done without him…She mentally shook herself, pulling her thoughts back to the present. That particular day had affected her way more than she'd ever care to admit. "It's time to get up."

"Do we have to?" He asked. Rory laughed.

"Unfortunately yes. We've got to go to Mick and Beth's for dinner, remember? We promised."

Dante sighed. "I suppose you're right. But I'd still rather stay here." He grinned mischievously.

Rory just smiled and pressed a long, tender kiss to his lips. "There'll be plenty of time for that later…after all, we've got eternity."

"Yeah…" Seth countered. "But I'm horny right now."

Rory sighed and chuckled to herself before becoming swept up in the urgent, passionate kiss that Dante sprung on her suddenly and without warning. She reciprocated with all of her pent-up emotions, pouring her heart and soul into the kiss as if it were their last. She had almost lost him once, and she was going to make damn sure that she never took what they had for granted ever again. For the rest of eternity, she was determined to live each moment as though it were their last, to kiss each kiss as though it were their last. After all…six months ago, it very nearly was.

"Well…" Rory said, once again shaking herself from her dark thoughts and forcing a smile. "I suppose we _do_ still have some time to kill before we have to get ready…"

Dante chuckled and grinned at her, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"I'm sure Mick and Beth won't even miss us…"

MLMLMLML

Beth sat staring at the clock, wondering where the hell Josef, Dante and Rory were. They should have been there half an hour ago. She was getting anxious. She had to tell them. She was simply ecstatic.

Mick walked down the stairs and into the living room to find Beth pacing anxiously in front of the doorway. Mick smiled, walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her.

Beth jumped at Mick's touch before turning quickly to face him.

"That's not fair! You shouldn't be able to do that anymore!" She said, slightly annoyed.

"Well I wouldn't be able to if you paid more attention to what was going on around you." Mick countered with a grin. Beth opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped by Mick's abrupt kiss. Pulling away after a moment, he grinned widely at her. "Has anyone ever told you how sexy you are when you're pissed off?"

Beth couldn't help but laugh. "Several of the multitudes of men I dated before you have, now that I think about it." She met Mick's deep frown with a smirk. Truthfully, she'd only dated a few guys before she'd met Mick, but she enjoyed seeing the look on his face when she hinted otherwise. It was her greatest form of entertainment. And she just slightly enjoyed the fact that he was so jealous. It was her twisted indication of how much he really loved her.

"So…have you heard from Rory and Dante yet?" Mick asked, trying to change the subject. He didn't want to imagine the thought of Beth with anyone else. Even if whoever else it was came before him.

"No," Beth sighed, suddenly remembering why she was so impatient.

"They'll be here." Mick assured her with a small smile.

"I know," Beth said, a hint of a whine in her voice, "but I want them to just get here already!"

Mick chuckled. She reminded him now of the slightly spoiled little girl she used to be, the girl he'd spent all those years watching from a distance. The little girl that had grown up to become the love of his life. His _fiancée_, he reminded himself with a smile. He had finally proposed to her the night before. They were just waiting on Rory, Dante, and Josef to arrive so that they could share the wonderful news with everyone.

"Patience is a virtue, Beth-"

"Well it's not one of _my_ virtues!" Beth cut in, her impatience made clear in her voice. Mick chuckled. Beth continued. "I just…I really want to let everyone know. It's just so…"

"Exciting." Mick finished for her. "I know. And I'm just as anxious to tell everyone as you are-"

"Could have fooled me." Beth muttered under her breath, knowing full well that Mick could hear it with his extremely sensitive hearing.

"-But I, unlike some people I could mention," He looked straight at Beth, "have learned patience in my nearly 88 years."

"Well excuse me for not having lived 88 years." Beth said.

"Well, you'll learn…even if it takes you all of eternity." Mick said with a smile. He pulled her into another kiss, a deeper, more passionate one this time.

They kissed passionately, heatedly. Mick allowed himself to be pushed by Beth into the nearest wall, before turning her and reversing their positions. They somehow managed all of this without breaking their kiss. Beth gave Mick a mischievous smile, as they finally broke apart to look into each other's face. Beth grinned as Mick vamped out, allowing the change to overtake her own features. She seductively ran her fangs across Mick's neck, just deep enough to draw a small amount of blood. She lapped up the blood with her tongue. Mick shivered, and then plunged his own fangs into Beth's neck. She let out a small moan, thoroughly enjoying the moment. Until…

Beth and Mick both jumped as three loud, consecutive knocks came on the door. Mick sighed, pulling away from Beth and allowing his features to return to normal. He glanced over at the wall, where a screen was mounted beside the door.

"Well, they're here." Mick said, smiling at Beth. Mick watched the screen as Josef walked up behind Rory and Dante.

Beth smiled playfully, reaching up and turning Mick's face back toward hers. Her eyes were filled with mischief.

"They can wait…see how they like it for a change."

Mick smiled, vamping out and, pinning Beth to the wall once more, plunging his fangs into her neck…

MLMLMLML

Rory, Dante, and Josef had been standing outside Mick and Beth's apartment for nearly ten minutes. They were becoming impatient.

"So…what do you think the news is? Beth said it was urgent." Rory asked. Josef snorted.

"I would have thought that would be obvious." He smirked, thoroughly enjoying the annoyed look on Rory's face.

"Then tell me, oh omnipotent one, do you know something we don't?"

"Well, not for sure…but I have a pretty good idea." Josef answered, his smug smile becoming even more pronounced. He could tell he was really getting on her nerves, and quite frankly he was having fun doing so.

Dante just stood back and watched, amused almost to the point of laughter. He had learned by now not to interrupt Rory and Josef's bantering, as doing so often resulted in Dante himself suddenly becoming the bad guy and being cut down to size. Then, to top it all off, he would have to sleep in the guest freezer because Rory would be pissed off at him.

Rory looked at Josef, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she just scoffed and muttered 'asshole' under her breath. Then, she turned and knocked impatiently again.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, Josef, Rory, and Dante finally hear movement behind the door. The three stood up from their sitting positions on the floor and stood in front of the door expectantly.

After dressing quickly, Beth ran to get the door, Mick close behind her. Beth opened the door and smiled brightly, Mick assuming a position just behind her and smiling just as brightly.

The three standing outside the loft stood and quietly examined the couple standing within. Rory immediately noticed several things. One; Beth's shirt was inside out. One of the tags sewn to the inside stuck out clearly. Two; Mick and Beth both looked distinctly dishevelled. Their hair was in a disarray and they were breathing heavily. Three; their body heat seemed to be elevated. Even by vampire standards.

Rory immediately put two and two together.

"Ugh…you mean that…while we were standing out here waiting…you were doing-"

"Hey! It's not like you and Dante don't do the same thing!" Beth countered.

"Yeah, but at least I have the common decency not to do it while guests are standing outside my apartment." Rory said.

"Well maybe if you had actually bothered to show up on time we wouldn't have had to resort to creative methods to pass the time while we were waiting for your sorry asses." Beth said with a smirk. Rory was silent for a moment.

"Well, all I can say is…thank god you had the good sense to soundproof your room." Rory finally said, a smirk crossing her face. Beth laughed and grabbed her in a hug. Rory hugged her back tightly.

"Sorry to ruin the moment, but is there any possible way that we could move this inside? I, for one, would like to get the show on the road." Josef piped up. Mick and Dante laughed in agreement. The two women hugging in the doorway let go of each other and shot the men dirty looks. Then, everyone walked into the apartment and sat down in various seats in the living room. Mick and Beth sat in two chairs side-by-side across from the sofa. Rory, Dante, and Josef all sat down on the sofa, Dante wrapping his arm around Rory's shoulders.

Mick and Beth smiled at their three closest friends. Mick took Beth's hand and both he and Beth took a breath in anticipation.

"Well?" Rory asked expectantly.

Mick looked at Beth. "Should I tell them or should you?"

Beth looked back at Mick. "I think you should tell them."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should. After all, you're the one that wanted to tell them so badly-"

"I don't care who does it, but someone better tell me what the hell's going on while we're still in this century." Rory said, somewhat annoyed by the whole puppy-love display.

Mick and Beth looked back at each other from where they'd been looking at Rory and said in unison, "We're engaged."

"Finally!" Dante said.

"Took you long enough." Piped up Rory.

Josef just smiled. "I _so_ called that."

Mick looked at the three vampires sitting across from him. He looked slightly disappointed. Apparently, he'd expected a different reaction. Beth just rolled her eyes. Their reactions were so typical.

Rory noticed Mick's look and smiled. "Well of course we're ecstatic for you!" She said, jumping up and hugging Mick before hugging Beth again. Mick's face immediately brightened as Rory said this, and as Dante and Josef jumped to their feet and offered their congratulations.

"Thank you…all of you." Mick smiled around at the others, hugging Beth tightly to his side. Josef smiled mischievously as he pulled out a very expensive-looking bottle of high-end liquor.

"So…who wants alcohol? You can't very well have a celebration without booze and blood."

Everyone laughed as Josef went and gathered a bunch of glasses and some fresh blood out of a bottle he'd brought and poured everyone an equal mixture of liquor and blood. They all raised their glasses in a toast before drinking them down.

Josef looked around him at the happy couples. The cheery atmosphere filled with passion and love mirrored almost exactly that day a few weeks ago when Dante had proposed to Rory. Josef was happy for all of them, truly he was, but there was a part of him, buried deeply away from the prying eyes of his family standing around him that…and he hated to say it…envied them. He thought sadly of Sarah, of how he should know this joy with her. If only he hadn't tried to turn her…

Shaking himself mentally, Josef was brought back to the present, only to become painfully aware of the fact that everyone was looking at him with slightly worried expressions.

"Josef…are you okay?" Beth asked softly. She had been the first to notice that he'd become lost in his thoughts. She recognized the look of intense sadness on his face, the look she'd first seen that day when she and Mick had travelled to New York and discovered Josef's secret past…the look he only wore when he was thinking about Sarah.

"What? Of course, why wouldn't I be?" He asked, pasting on his too-wide fake grin. He downed the rest of the contents of his glass. "Refill, anyone?" He asked, reaching for the bottles. Everyone just stared at him but said nothing. No matter what he did, they wouldn't be convinced that he was fine. He'd let them see; the damage was done.

MLMLMLML

After sitting down to dinner (everyone having a pitcher of fresh blood) and talking late into the night, Rory, Dante, and Josef finally left at about two a.m. Josef shook hands with Dante and gave Rory a hug before climbing into his waiting limousine.

"Bye, Josef." Rory called. Dante gave a good-natured wave. Josef smiled and waved back before rolling up the tinted window on his limousine as it pulled away.

"Well," Dante said to Rory, wrapping an arm around her as they walked to their car. "The night is still young. What should we do?"

Rory smiled mischievously, stopping and pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss. After breaking apart, Dante smirked at her.

"I've got a few ideas…" Rory said, still grinning mischievously. She and Dante shared a laugh before climbing into their car and driving away.

The man that had been standing in front of the building across the street smoking a cigarette took one last puff and tossed it on the ground, stomping it out with his foot before walking over to his parked car. He ran a large hand through his dark, nearly jet-black hair before pulling out a notebook and a pen. He scribbled down some information, and then glanced back up at the window to Mick St. John's apartment before sliding the key into the ignition and pulling out of the spot he'd been parked in all night. He couldn't afford to stay there much longer. If he did, he'd run the risk of being seen. He stole a quick glance at his notebook.

"Two men identified as Josef Konstantin and Dante Masters and one woman, Aurora Callaghan, seen exiting St. John's building together. Konstantin known associate of St John. Masters and Callaghan most likely also associated with St. John."

TBC…

And…(dramatic music plays) Dun dun dun! Yeah…more of my evil cliffies. I'm glad I've finally finished this chapter. I was having some writer's block, trying to decide how best to set this up, which is why it took so long. That and the fact that school is really hectic lately. So yeah…here it is. I don't know if it turned out exactly to my standards, so I must shamelessly beg for reviews…I need to know what you think. The next chapter will be posted after I've finished writing and posting chapter 2 of Someone Else's Life. Well, enjoy! And please review. They're inspirational!

Love always, Cat.


	2. The Mysterious Stalker Man

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz! But there is no monetary gain…so I'd really appreciate it if you'd call off the bloodsucking (sorry Mick, Josef, etc.) attack dogs known as lawyers so that I can come out from under the rock I'm hiding under. Much appreciated.

AN: Woot Woot! I'm officially 16! (As of March 5th) Yeah, so… I'd like to thank you all for your amazing reviews and wonderful support…it's inspired me so much more than you could imagine. Oh, and thanks to all who extended early birthday wishes…much appreciated. I feel so loved! So, I dedicate this chapter to all of you who care enough to read…and especially to those who review…you're all truly wonderful. Now…onto chapter 2!

A week slipped by. Then two. Everyone was becoming so absorbed in wedding plans that time seemed to pass by extraordinarily fast. The fact that they were immortal, and weeks were a mere drop in the bucket for them in the Grand Scheme of Things didn't exactly do anything to slow it down either.

Before any of them knew it, a month had passed. And it was there that the story truly began.

MLMLMLML

Mick sat at his desk in his home office, rifling through file after file, scanning the contents of each thoroughly, scrutinizing obsessively, looking for some possible fraction of evidence that he could have missed. Nothing.

Leaning back wearily in his chair, Mick rubbed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He was frustrated beyond belief, having reached a dead end in his investigation into a string of murders that had plagued LA for the past four months. Seven files lay scattered across his desk, abandoned for the moment. Seven women had been brutally murdered and very meticulously positioned at each crime scene. Almost two per month. And it was only mid-June. There was still plenty of time left for the body count to rise.

The police had been investigating the case as well…and, in fact, they even had a suspect in custody. But Mick knew that the suspect they had wasn't the killer. He'd been to all the crime scenes…he'd glimpsed the past. Though the killer always seemed to be shrouded in darkness, he had left one very important clue…jet-black hairs. The suspect in custody was fair-haired, with long, sandy-blonde strands. The strands of black hair at the crime scene had been short, clutched tightly in the lifeless hands of his victims. The police had paid no attention to this detail, however, as they already had the confession of the sandy-haired man. He was just some poser wanna-be looking for his fifteen minutes. Mick was frustrated…he knew the killer was still out there, mocking him. Planning his next move…and, at the moment, Mick was powerless to stop him. He'd run out of clues…his leads had dried up. He was reduced to scanning his files and photographs for what must have been the hundredth time in a futile attempt to figure out where and when the killer might strike next.

Lost in his thoughts, Mick was startled out of his reverie by a hand on his shoulder. He jolted at the unexpected contact, jumping to his feet and whirling around in one swift motion, breathing heavily, coming face to face with…Beth?

Beth stood behind the chair, a glass of blood in her hand, a mixture of shock and amusement etched across her face. Her expression soon turned to one of smug triumph.

"Ha! Now you know how it feels! I FINALLY GOT YOU!"

Mick just stared at her for a moment. He'd been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed her coming up behind him. His expression was serious for a moment before he finally cracked into a huge grin.

"Yeah, I guess you did." He replied. He walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his lips to hers in a tender kiss before breaking away and snatching the glass of blood from her hands.

"HEY!" Beth exclaimed as Mick sank back into his comfortable leather office chair, sipping at the glass. "I was drinking that!"

As Mick settled back in to once again look over the countless crime scene photographs, Beth followed him over, seating herself on the edge of the desk and snatching back the blood. She looked down to where he was staring solemnly at the photographs from the latest crime scene. She frowned.

"Is this what you've been obsessing over for the past few hours?" Beth asked, picking up a photograph of the body and taking a closer look at it. Mick nodded. "But I thought they already had a suspect in custody."

"They do." Mick replied, not taking his eyes off the photograph he was currently scrutinizing. "But he's not our guy."

"How can you be so sure?" Beth asked. "I mean, I've been working this case for BuzzWire, and apparently the guy confessed."

"He did." Mick said, looking up at her. "But he's not the guy. I've been to the crime scenes. I've seen what happened."

"You mean you've seen his face?" Beth asked. They were referring to the vampire's ability to 'smell the past' so to speak. Meaning, based on the scent left behind, a vampire could see things that had already happened.

"Well…not exactly." Mick admitted sheepishly. Beth just looked at him.

"Then how do you know the suspect they've got in custody's not the real killer?"

Mick handed her a small, sealed evidence baggie. "Take a look at this. These were found clutched in the hands of the latest victim."

Beth held the baggie up in front of her and inspected the contents closely. "Black hairs. Fairly short." She muttered, more to herself than to Mick. Then something clicked. "Hey…doesn't the suspect have-"

"Blonde hair? Yeah." Mick finished for her. "And it's a hell of a lot longer than those hairs."

"So the killer's still out there." Beth stated. Mick nodded.

"That's what's got me so stressed out about this case. This guy has a pattern. He kills two every month…"

"…So that means that he's going to do it again. And soon." Beth commented. Mick nodded.

"That's why I've got to figure out who he is…as well as where and when he plans to strike next. And so far, I've got nothing. All my leads have run dry. I've hit a dead end."

Mick got up from his chair and began to pace. Beth could tell he was really agitated.

"I know the answer is somewhere right under my nose!" Mick raged, his pacing becoming faster and more determined. "I just can't for the life of me figure it out!"

Beth was about to set down the picture she was holding when something caught her eye. She pulled the photo back up to her face, examining it closely. There was something out of place…something odd. And then it hit her!

"Mick!" Beth said excitedly. Mick looked up at her, pausing mid-step. "Mick, take a look at this!"

Mick strode over to where Beth sat on top of the desk. She handed him the photograph and indicated an area on the body. Mick couldn't see anything.

"What am I looking at?" He asked. Beth sighed and gestured again.

"Take a look at the hand…there's a tattoo there. It's an odd one…I know I've seen something like it before somewhere…it looks familiar."

"And what exactly does this have to do with the case at hand?" Mick asked. "A lot of people have tattoos…"

"But this one's different." Beth assured Mick. "Look. This tattoo appears to be fresh…" She flipped through the photographs contained in the file and let out a triumphant "Aha! This tattoo isn't in any of the photographs in the file…even the ones taken of her just days before she disappeared! And there's no irritation whatsoever around the tattoo site, which suggests that she was tattooed _after she died_.Which means-"

"Which means that the killer must have tattooed her!" Mick finished excitedly. He searched through the photographs of the other crime scenes that he'd obtained through Beth's contacts at the police department. Scanning each on thoroughly, he found the same tattoo on each and every one of the bodies. It was in a different place on each victim, but invariably it was there. Mick felt his excitement grow. The answer really _had_ been under his nose…literally! It wasn't much to go on, but nonetheless it was a lead. It was the killer's signature. Mick grabbed Beth in his excitement and pulled her into a bear hug, followed by a long, drawn out kiss on the lips.

"Beth, you're a genius!" He exclaimed. Beth chuckled to herself.

"Apparently you, however, are not if it's taken you this long to figure it out." Beth quipped.

Mick had become too absorbed in his now racing thoughts to come up with a response to that…or even to take a spare moment to dispute it. His synopses were firing rapidly as new and unexplored alleyways of evidence revealed themselves before his very eyes. Whereas only a moment ago he had felt tired and extremely frustrated, Mick was now wide awake, adrenaline rushing through his undead body.

"Thank you Beth." He said appreciatively, kissing her gratefully on the lips once more before hurriedly gathering together his stack of files, pulling on his coat and sunglasses, and rushing out of the apartment. Beth just smiled to herself, shaking her head as she took her half-consumed glass of blood into the living room with her and collapsed on the couch to watch TV. It had been an extremely long day…

MLMLMLML

The man with the black hair was sitting in his parked car outside the apartment building of Mick St. John. He wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been parked there…definitely more than three hours. He barely had time to duck down in his seat as St. John came tearing excitedly out of the parking lot in his classic Mercedes. The man smiled and sat up straight as St. John sped off up the road without so much as a glance in the rear view mirror. For a vampire, St. John was definitely not the most perceptive being on the planet. Even by mortal standards.

The man shook his head in disbelief as he rolled the word over in his mind. _Vampire_. He never would have believed it himself if he hadn't seen it. But indeed, he had seen a vampire. Several, as a matter of fact. He'd been keeping an eye on St. John long enough to now to see St. John vamp out on more than one occasion. He also knew that St. John's associate Josef Kostan a.k.a. Konstantin was a vampire as well, having looked into Konstantin's background. He also had a sneaking suspicion that St. John's girlfriend, who had been identified as Elizabeth Turner was also a vampire. As well as Aurora Callaghan and Dante Masters. In fact, the man had strong suspicions that everyone, or at least mostly everyone, Mick St. John knew were vampires as well.

Lighting up a cigarette, the man watched St. John's living room window. It was lit up brightly, indicating that the girlfriend was home and very much alone. He took a long drag on his cigarette, just staring at the window, allowing the smoke to fill his lungs before returning to his musings.

Four months. Four months he'd been following St. John. Ever since St. John had begun investigating his…artwork. Four months since his creations had appeared on the internet new site BuzzWire, earning him national publicity. It was where he'd first seen St. John's girlfriend. Not that he would be foolish enough to stand up and take credit for his work…he was proud and egotistical, yes, but not stupid. Instead, he would leave hidden messages in his art…a sort of…'catch me if you can'. A challenge. St. John had been all too willing to accept. Now, unbeknownst to St. John, it was very much a game of cat-and-mouse. He enjoyed watching St. John run around aimlessly like a chicken with its head cut off attempting to find him. In fact, he was beginning to become just about as obsessed with St. John as St. John was becoming with him. It had begun as merely watching St. John to make sure that he didn't get too close to finding out. But now…it had evolved into so much more. A sort of symbiotic relationship…each needing the other in their own twisted way. There was no doubt in the man's mind that he harboured a deep respect for St. John…St. John, who was coming dangerously close to finding him. Not that he didn't have ways of dealing with St. John if that did happen…he certainly did. In fact, deep down, he was almost hoping that St. John would find him out. St. John was indeed a worthy adversary. The man had always enjoyed a challenge…

As midnight approached, the man finally decided that it was time to call it a night. He scribbled a few thoughts down in his notebook and then, tossing his cigarette butt out the window of his car, he left. He decided that it was probably best that he left before St. John arrived back…if St. John noticed that the car was still there when he returned, he might start to get suspicious. Besides, thought the man…he still had much work to do…many preparations to make. He'd already selected one…he'd already decided on the place…he'd made the preparations before hand. What he needed now was rest. And plenty of it. Tomorrow night would be a very busy night. After all, murder was a very laborious task…

…Aaaand cue to evil cliffie!

AN: Yeah, I know. Truly evil…but highly effective. It's definitely one of the most effective writing tools I can think of. Anyway…yeah. I got nothing. Sorry if overall this chapter seems a little abrupt. I wrote most of it when it was getting really late and I was getting really tired. But please…let me know what you think anyway. And by all means…constructive criticism is welcome. Anything to help me to improve my writing. :D And, just as an afterthought, because I know that by now you've realised what a sarcastic little bitch I am, I figured I'd share with you all a little something a friend told me…RESPECT! The sarcasm. Lol.

Love always, Cat.


	3. Mick, Josef, And A Certain Techie

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz! But there is no monetary gain…so I'd really appreciate it if you'd call off the bloodsucking (sorry Mick, Josef, etc.) attack dogs known as lawyers so that I can come out from under the rock I'm hiding under. Much appreciated.

AN: Thank you all for all of your kind and wonderful reviews. You'll be happy to know that I have many interesting plot twists planned for you all…so there'll be no shortage of excitement in the story. As more and more twists and tidbits reveal themselves to me, the plot just keeps getting thicker and thicker. Lol. Anyway, so yeah…creativity levels are definitely good lately…which is good news for all of you. I've got so many story ideas circulating in my head it's frustrating, because I have such limited time in which to be able to write. But, alas, such is life. Anyway…on to chapter 3! Enjoy!

"Josef!" Mick called out as he strolled into the front foyer of Josef's enormous mansion. He didn't even bother to knock anymore; after so many years, the habit of knocking had just sort of vanished. Not to mention the fact that Josef did the same thing when he came to Mick's loft anyway.

After several minutes, Josef came down the stairs in a silk robe, grumbling under his breath as he did so. He yawned, glaring daggers at Mick as he rubbed his eyes sleepily. 

"Hello, Mick. What, may I ask, is so important that you had to disturb my peaceful slumber and drag me out of my freezer at-" he glanced with an annoyed expression at a nearby clock and groaned. "Six? Six p.m.! Come on, Mick. You know full well I never get up before eight!"

Mick just grinned at him. "I've got something."

"What? Mick, what the hell are you talking about?" Josef suddenly smirked. "You'd better not be talking about some form of vampiric venereal disease-" 

"No, Josef! Now's not the time for jokes." Mick cut in. "I've _got something_. As in, the recent string of murders. I've had a break in the case!"

Josef immediately straightened. His attitude changed completely. His face, which had been joking and amused only seconds before suddenly became serious and stoic.

"Give me two minutes." He said, before racing back upstairs to get dressed.

When Josef arrived back downstairs moments later, fully dressed in his usual business attire, he made two quick phone calls and arranged for a limo to pick him up at his front door. When the limo had arrived, he climbed silently into the back, gesturing for Mick to follow him.

The limo was deathly silent as it made its way to Josef's office, where Ryder was to meet them. Josef looked lost in his thoughts. Mick knew that normally a case like this would hold little to no interest to Josef. But this case was entirely different. The sixth victim of this particular serial killer had been one of Josef's freshies, Madeline Adair. 

Josef would never admit it, but he cared a great deal for those in his employ, particularly his freshies. He had been extremely fond of Madeline, and had, in fact, had a close friendship with her, almost a brother-sister relationship. When she had gone missing, he had worried a great deal. When he had discovered that she was dead, he had been caught somewhere between devastation and murderous rage. Since Madeline's death, Josef had spared no expense in his quest to help Mick find this killer. There were three things of Josef's that no one dared mess with under pain of death. His money, his employees, and his family. Madeline had been somewhere in between employee and family, thus the killer's deed had been twice as unforgivable. He looked forward to the day when he would have the opportunity to tear this killer limb from limb. Mick had promised him that much. And he knew Mick to be a man of his word.

As the limo pulled up to Josef's office building, he stepped silently out of the limo, followed closely by Mick. The entire drive had been silent, and Mick was becoming slightly disconcerted by Josef's lack of things to say, when normally he couldn't get Josef to _stop_ talking. Desperate to break the silence, Mick struggled for a topic.

"So, Josef?" Mick asked. There was silence for a moment before Josef acknowledged that Mick had even spoken.

"Mhmm?" Josef answered distractedly. 

"How come you called Ryder to meet us here? I never even said what it was I had, let alone that I would need Ryder's assistance."

Josef just looked at him for a moment with an unreadable expression. For a moment, Mick was actually scared. Then, his face cracked into a wry smile and Mick felt relief flood through him.

"Mick, would you honestly have risked disturbing my sleep at six p.m. if you didn't need my help with something?" Josef asked him. "You needed my techie. That's the only reason you would have come barging into my house this early in the evening."

Mick was astonished at Josef's ability to read him like a book. Though, after all of these years, he supposed that he shouldn't be so surprised. Wanting to maintain whatever shreds of dignity he might have left, however, Mick chose to dispute Josef's comment. No matter how right he was, Mick would not give him the satisfaction of knowing it.

"Maybe I was just stopping by to update you on the progress of the case. Did you ever think about that? You told me you wanted regular updates on its progress."

Josef looked at him for a moment, a smug smile gracing his features. He shook his head slightly.

"If that were the case, Mick, you would have at least waited until a halfway decent time in the evening before coming to me. You were in a hurry. You wanted to chase the lead while it was still somewhat fresh."

Mick opened his mouth to argue, but closed it again when he found he had no words with which to be able to reply. His mind was completely devoid of possible arguments. Josef's smug smile only grew wider at Mick' inability to respond. Mick scowled at him, very much wanting to wipe the smug smile right off his face. 

Josef began walking toward the elevator, while Mick stood rooted to the spot, still fuming at Josef's arrogant, yet very accurate insight.

"You coming, Mick?" Josef asked, his malicious smile still very much in place. "Or are you going to stand there and sulk all night?"

Grudgingly, Mick followed his friend into the elevator, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "arrogant prick" under his breath as he went.

MLMLMLML

The man with the black hair took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the task he had set out before him. He stood in front of the door to the basement. The basement where she was being kept, bound tightly and gagged. He had acquired her shortly after leaving St. John's apartment building the night before. He had planned on hunting her down tonight, adhering completely to his carefully laid plans. But seeing her last night…she had fallen right into his lap! The temptation had been too great to pass up. He wondered vaguely what the consequences of his impatient actions might be, but he quickly pushed those thoughts aside. They only distracted from the anticipation building within him. From the pure, unadulterated joy of the moments before the kill. And so, allowing a smile to creep onto his face, he opened the door and slowly, very slowly, drawing out the moment, he descended the dark stairway. 

"Mmm! Mmm mm!" A terrified, muffled voice greeted his hollow footsteps as they echoed on the concrete stairs. The man grinned to himself. He loved that sound…the sound of sheer terror at the prospect of staring death in the face. He felt a surge of power course through him, only adding to the pleasure he already felt. His heart rate increased as the adrenaline began pumping through his veins, his heart hammering loudly and erratically in his own ears. The anticipation within only grew more, becoming almost too much for him to contain. 

"Hello." He said softly to the terrified woman on the floor, barely containing his own mounting glee. The woman shrank helplessly back into a corner, as far as her bonds would allow, as the man approached her. There was a rustling of the canvas tarp that covered the floor. Similar blue tarp covered the walls of the small cellar. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly at her as he bent down, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb as he laid his hand on the side of her face. There was an almost sympathetic look in his eyes as he gazed at her.

"You really shouldn't be so distressed." He nearly whispered to her. "You're only making this harder on yourself."

The woman screamed through her gag once more, crying hysterically.

"This is the way it has to be." The man whispered to her softly, gently lifting her to her feet. "My vision must be complete. You should be honoured. I've chosen you to become part of my art. You'll live on eternally in everyone's memory…you're going to be part of a true masterpiece. I promise you, you're going to be a real work of art." He had meant it to be reassuring, to make the woman understand that she would not die in vain. But the woman did not see it this way.

She continued to cry. The man became impatient. He couldn't wait any longer. Pulling out the knife he had concealed in the waistband of his jeans, he made short work of her, quickly brining it across her throat. He let her drop to the floor unceremoniously, watching as the blood pooled and she flopped around helplessly for a moment or so before becoming still. He allowed the pure satisfaction that always followed a kill flood through him, washing over him and fulfilling the need. He gazed down with an almost loving expression at his work, inhaling deeply and allowing the rich coppery scent to fill his nostrils. He took out his camera and snapped a picture before setting to work, carrying the body to a dry section of floor and gently cleaning it. After he had finished cleaning it, he pulled out his supply kit. Pulling out a tattoo needle and ink, the man carefully selected a spot on the body, opting for the left shoulder, and set to work. His tongue stuck out of his mouth slightly as he worked intently, tattooing the all too familiar mark onto soft, pale flesh…

MLMLMLML

Ryder looked up from his computer as Josef and Mick entered the huge, extravagant office. 

"Well hello there Mick…boss…" Ryder greeted, nodding his head to each one of them before turning back to his console. There were at least half a dozen screens, most likely more, attached to the control panel and Ryder eyed each one carefully in turn. He turned to grin at Mick. "Well, I got it all warmed up and ready to go. Just waiting on instructions."

Mick nodded silently and handed Ryder the photographs. Ryder looked at them for a moment, confused.

"What exactly is it I'm looking for here, Mick?" He asked, shooting Mick a quizzical look.

"Just scan them in." Mick told him firmly, leaning over Ryder's shoulders to examine the screens before him.

"Whatever you say." Ryder said, a hint of scepticism in his voice. Once he'd scanned the photo in, Mick had him bring up the photograph on the screen. He pointed to an area on the photograph.

"Okay. Ryder, I need you to zoom in on this area right here." He said to the techie vampire. Ryder nodded and did as Mick asked. For a second, a very large, pixellated portion of the photograph showed up on the screen, and then Ryder adjusted the settings, making it incredibly clear. A large, blown-up image of a tattooed hand appeared on the screen. The tattoo was a strange symbol, one that Mick had never seen. 

"Hm…this tattoo looks strange…something's off about it…" Ryder muttered. "It looks fresh…but there's no skin irritation…"

Mick looked at him and said, "I have a suspicion that the tattoo was done post-mortem. By our killer." He added, as an afterthought. "Here…take a look at the other photos. The tattoo appears in every one of them."

Ryder pulled up the other photos from the other crime scenes, and sure enough the tattoo was on every one of the victims. It was in a different place on each body, but invariably it was there. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Mick watched as Josef turned pointedly away while he and Ryder examined the photographs of Madeline's body, before bustling over to his desk and busying himself with some paperwork there. Mick felt a stab of pity for his friend…he knew Josef felt a sense of responsibility for Madeline, even it he would never admit it. Even though what happened to her wasn't Josef's fault. Still, Josef felt like he should have protected her.

After about half an hour of examining photographs and talking strategy and evidence, Mick decided to call it a night. 

"Okay, so listen, Ryder. I want you to do a search on this symbol, see if you get any hits. I'm going to call it a night. If you get any information, let me know." 

Mick turned to go, and then stopped abruptly. Turning back, he approached Josef and handed him the evidence baggie of black hairs.

"Josef…I was wondering if maybe you might be able to get these DNA tested for me. Send them to a private lab or whatever you have to do. If I can find out who these hairs belong to, I might have a chance of stopping him before he does it again." 

Josef looked at him for a second and nodded. "I know a guy at a lab…owes me a favour. I'll do what I can."

"Thank you Josef." Mick said with a smile, putting a hand on Josef's shoulder. Josef just looked up at him. 

"Remember what you promised me, Mick." He said seriously, a dangerous undertone to his voice. "I want in on stopping this son of a bitch." 

Mick nodded to Josef, an understanding in his eyes. "I know, Josef…I won't forget." Mick was loyal to his best friend. He knew how much Josef needed this to find some sense of peace, and Mick wasn't about to deny him that. Josef may have been hard and cold on the outside, but Mick knew that, deep down, there was a part of his friend that cared about things. He'd seen it. Not often, mind you, but enough to know that it existed.

"Good." Josef stood up and put a hand on Mick's shoulder, giving him a little shake. 

Mick smiled and said. "'Night Josef. Sorry about waking you up." Then he turned to go.

"You'd better be." Josef called after him, although he couldn't help the amused, good-natured smile that graced his features after Mick had left. 

MLMLMLML

Mick arrived home to find all of the lights off and the living room empty. Grinning to himself, he realized that Beth must have gotten too tired to wait up for him. After all, even though they were vampires, they had to live like normal people to keep up appearances. This meant staying up during the day and sleeping at night. And although they could tolerate the sun enough that they could get through the day without feeling too ill, the sun was still very taxing on them, and by the end of the day they were exhausted. Which was why, despite it being only seven p.m., Beth was in…freezer. And, at the moment, Mick simply couldn't wait to join her.

Heading up the stairs wearily, Mick pushed a button on the remote in his pocket and locked the door before reaching the top. He wandered into his freezer room and found, as he had expected, that Beth was already in their freezer. Mick grinned to himself as he undressed. Josef had taken the liberty of buying Mick and Beth a huge, two-person…or rather…two-vampire freezer after Beth had been turned. Kind of a, 'Congratulations, you're a vampire!' gift. Actually, thinking back on it, that was exactly how Josef had referred to it. And apparently Josef had done the same thing for Rory and Dante. 

Yawning and completely naked, Mick opened one of the double doors of the freezer. He climbed in, feeling the soothing cold penetrate his exhausted body. He immediately felt his eyes droop and, just before nodding off, he snuggled up next to Beth's sleeping form and wrapped his arms around her, revelling in the closeness of their bodies and silently thanking God for Beth Turner…soon to be Beth St. John. 

MLMLMLML

Beth was jolted out of her sleep by the ringing of her cell phone through the thick transparent glass of the freezer. She groaned, not wanting to have to answer it. Hoping it would stop, and that she would be able to ignore it, Beth closed her eyes and settled back in.

After about five rings, Beth realized that the ringing wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon, and sighed heavily. Finally resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to answer it, she carefully untangled herself from Mick's embrace, trying not to wake him. Finally able to climb out of the freezer, she ran with lightning speed over to her side table, where her cell phone was sitting. 

"Beth Turner." She answered with an air of exhaustion, stifling a yawn. She listened to the phone for a few seconds and suddenly became very alert. "Yes, of course I'll cover it. I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

Ending the call, Beth rushed over to the freezer, pulling open one of the double doors and gently shaking Mick awake.

"Just five more minutes, Beth." Mick muttered, rolling over and trying to go back to sleep.

"No, Mick. You need to get up now." Beth insisted. Mick opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows, yawning and blinking back sleep.

"What is it, Beth?" Mick asked, sounding slightly annoyed. His annoyance vanished completely and he, too, was suddenly very much awake from what Beth said next.

"There's been another murder, Mick."

AN: Okay, so…not one of my longer chapters, but definitely very much action-oriented. I hope you enjoy this…and to a certain someone, whom I shall not name (you know who you are), I hope that this ending wasn't too much of an evil cliffie. Remember our agreement! Lol. Anyway, yeah. Sorry about the really intense serial killer scene…I've definitely been reading a little too much Darkly Dreaming Dexter lately. It inspired most of it. :D Anyway, so here it is…I apologise for the wait and would like to personally thank you all for being such wonderful readers and reviewers. I definitely write simply for the satisfaction of it, but it's much more satisfying for me when I get such amazing reviews. I hope you all enjoyed this, and I'll try not to make it too long until the next update.

Love always, Cat.


	4. Revelations of the Disturbing Variety

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz! But there is no monetary gain…so I'd really appreciate it if you'd call off the bloodsucking (sorry Mick, Josef, etc.) attack dogs known as lawyers so that I can come out from under the rock I'm hiding under. Much appreciated.

AN: Sorry it took so long, folks…I've been really sick lately, and as a strangely twisted result I've had quite a few really amazing story ideas. Don't ask my why; I find that when I'm in a sick/sleep-deprived state I tend to be at my most creative. I guess it's the balance for the fact that I end up feeling bad and/or really tired. Hm. Maybe there _is_ always a silver lining. Anyway, I shall resume my regular story-updating schedule now…and just for future reference, it would help you to take a look at my one shot "Bedtime Stories" if you haven't already. And no, I'm not trying to shamelessly advertise one of my other stories here…well, okay, maybe a little…but there's a reason behind it. You see, 'Bedtime Stories' is my theory on how vampires came to be…and this theory will come into play later on in the story. That's all I'm going to tell you, though…so…no spoilers for you! Lol. Sorry, incredibly random outburst. I was in an incredibly random mood when I wrote this. I actually decided to wear pigtails to school that day…despite the fact that I'm sixteen years old and in grade 10. Yeah, see? RANDOMNESS! Teehee. Anyway…so yeah. Here's the next chapter!

Within twenty minutes, Mick and Beth had arrived at the latest crime scene. They parted ways, Beth rushing off to find Steve and film a quick BuzzWire report while Mick hung off to the side in the shadows, keeping an eye out for any strange or suspicious characters.

Sniffing the air, Mick caught a scent. He closed his eyes and watched in his mind's eye as the story behind the scent unfolded itself for him.

Faintly, very faintly, the essence of fear still lingered on the corpse. It would be gone soon, and it wasn't much for Mick to go on, but it was enough. He watched the murder unfold before his eyes. Felt the excitement of the killer mixed with the terror of the victim. Mick shivered involuntarily as he saw the killer remove a large hunting knife from the waistband of his pants, sliding it effortlessly across his victim's throat. Mick was even more disgusted as, at the sight of the blood pooling at his feet, he felt the killer's satisfaction and joy. Then he saw the man remove a kit from the corner of the room and begin to tattoo the victim…

Mick's eyes snapped open as the vision came to an abrupt end. He wanted to cry out in rage and frustration. Yet again, the killer's face had managed to evade him. The vision had been blurred by time as the scent had grown faint. He also couldn't get close enough to the body to be able to steal any evidence from the scene at this point. The whole situation was positively infuriating.

MLMLMLML

Beth had just finished wrapping up her BuzzWire report, and was now grilling Lt. Carl Davis for information. Truth be told, her main reason for coming here hadn't been to do a report for BuzzWire…although she was grateful for a plausible excuse for being there. Really, she had come in the hopes that she and Mick might be able to uncover some more evidence that might lead them to the killer.

"Beth…" Carl groaned as she approached him. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"Not when there's a crazed killer on the loose with a really cool MO." Beth quipped, fixing him with her best serious reporter stare. She'd used the stare many times with great success…so she figured she'd have no trouble with it this time.

"No, Beth. Not this time." Carl said firmly. Beth could feel the waves of frustration practically rolling off of him, even as he fought to keep calm. "And the stare has lost its effectiveness, just so you know…I've become immune."

Beth immediately dropped the glare and, scowling, resorted to begging. "Come on, Carl…please? Just a little hint?"

"No, Beth. This isn't a game!" Carl exclaimed, losing his temper, "It's not as simple as, 'it was Colonel Mustard in the Ballroom with the hatchet'! This is _real life_, Beth! People are actually _dying_. And yet you can't seem to wrap your head around that simple fact!"

Beth was insulted by Carl's remarks and felt fury flare up in her. She had to fight with herself to maintain control, so that she didn't change in front of him.

"I do _not_ think it's some sort of game!" Beth retorted, her outrage barely contained, "I _know_ people are dying, Carl! I don't get a kick out of it anymore than you do! I'm just as eager to catch this son of a bitch as you are!"

"Well maybe you should stop acting like it's a game then! Show some respect for the dead. And just in case you've forgotten, it's not your job to catch the bad guys, Beth. Now go do your job and let me do mine!"

Beth turned on her heel and stormed off. Carl Davis wasn't usually so cold toward her. In fact, She and Carl generally got along fairly well, and he would usually give her at least some sort of information. After the first few murders in this recent string, in fact, he had slipped her a few leads. But with each murder he had grown increasingly frustrated with the fact that they were no closer to catching the killer. He resented Beth's gung-ho attitude toward the case…like it really didn't bother her that women kept turning up dead. He had stopped sleeping lately as well…he could barely even close his eyes anymore without seeing the women's faces.

Beth knew that Carl was under a great deal of stress, and that she shouldn't hold his attitude against him. But she was infuriated by his comments that she didn't care about the women that kept dying.

As she stomped off, she noticed that the coroner and the forensics experts were all discussing something several feet away from the body. She looked over her shoulder, to where Carl and the other police officers were interviewing witnesses. There was no one keeping a very close eye on the body.

She wasn't sure what it was that led her to do it. Maybe it was the morbid curiosity that came with being a crime reporter. Perhaps it was to spite Carl. Most likely it was that she wanted to help Mick catch the psychopath slicing a path through L.A. Whatever it was, though, it was strong enough to lead Beth to duck under the crime scene tape while surrounded by police officers and approach the body.

She had only ever entered a crime scene while knowingly surrounded by police once before, when, as a fresh young reporter for BuzzWire, she had approached the body of Kelly Foster, a murdered Hearst College student, in order to snap a picture of the body. That had been the day she had met Mick for the second time.

She quickly and carefully approached the body lying on the ground, all the while looking back over her shoulders to make sure nobody was watching her. She pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a couple of pictures. She heard voices behind her, heard the forensics people begin to turn around and make their way back toward the body, and quickly super sped away, feeling panic rise up in her stomach.

MLMLMLML

Mick heard a noise behind him, a noise that had come from a long way away. It was the sound of a car coming to a stop on a paved road. It was faint, barely audible even to his vampire hearing, but audible nonetheless. This sound was followed by the sound of a window being rolled down. Then…a familiar scent met his nostrils. A scent that both sent shivers up his spine and roused the sleeping beast within him. It was the scent of the killer!

Mick whirled around quickly, using his enhanced night vision to scan the darkness for some sign of him. He immediately spotted a car in the distance, a few hundred yards away. It was a black car, blending easily with the dark shadows surrounding it. Had Mick not been a vampire, and had he not been looking for the car, he surely would have missed it. He immediately began to approach the car, walking fast at first before reverting to his super speed.

MLMLMLML

The man with the dark hair pulled up quietly in his car to watch as the police poured over his artwork. It was extremely gratifying, watching as the so-called 'professionals' struggled to make sense of his work safe in the knowledge that he had not left one iota of evidence for them to be able to trace back to him.

He really enjoyed this, watching them run around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying in vain to catch a killer that had, multiple times, outsmarted them. He had always known that he was smarter than everyone else…it was the reason he had begun indulging in the art of murder in the first place. To _prove_ to the world that he was far more intelligent than anyone could ever have possibly imagined.

But he wasn't here for the sole purpose of watching the fruitless attempts of the police as they struggled to solve an unsolvable case. He had watched the first several times after he'd killed…it had become boring. No, he was here for an entirely different reason…a reason that both intrigued and frightened him. Mick St. John. He had wondered if St John would show up at this crime scene…so much so that he simply had to come and see. St. John was the only one even remotely close to catching him…and got closer to it as each day passed. The dark-haired man felt the fear rise in him at the prospect of getting caught…and yet, it thrilled him to no end. Murder had become boring…until, at least, St. John had come into the picture. St. John challenged him. Put the excitement back into it. Because St. John, like himself, was no fool…

The dark-haired man rolled down the window of his car, pulling out a pair of binoculars and surveying the area of the elaborately staged crime scene several hundred yards away. He felt a jolt of excitement rise up in him as he caught sight of St. John, who was standing near the crime scene. He was thrilled that St. John had considered his work important enough to take a look at.

Then, clearly sensing his presence, no doubt with vampire-heightened senses, St John turned in the direction of the dark-haired man's car. The man watched as St. John began to make his way forward, walking at a normal pace at first, then turning on vamp super speed. The man had anticipated St. John turning on the super-speed before St. John had actually done it, however, so the man started his car and easily sped off into the night before St. John, even with super-speed, could reach him.

MLMLMLML

Mick had made his way toward the car in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, though, the killer had managed to start his car and speed off into the night before Mick could have much of a chance of following. By the time he'd reached the spot where the car had been previously parked, the car had already sped off up the street and turned the corner. Where he'd gone from there was anyone's guess. Even Mick, with his vampire speed, couldn't possibly catch up with him now.

Mick was disoriented by the sudden departure of the car and simply stood in place, looking around him helplessly, knowing that there was no way he could possibly even begin to find the car now…

MLMLMLML

Beth didn't stop running with her full vampire speed until she knew she was safely hidden in shadow several yards away from the crime scene. She breathed heavily, quite sure that if her heart could beat, it would be beating extremely erratically. She looked behind her at the crime scene, and was intensely relieved to see everyone go about their business as normal. Apparently, she hadn't been spotted in the crime scene before speeding away.

Suddenly, she remembered Mick, knowing that he would like to see the photos she'd shot of the body. She was surprised to find that he was no longer in the spot she'd left him in before she went off to film her BuzzWire report. She was seriously pissed at this…it was their agreed-upon meeting spot. Sighing heavily, she closed her eyes and sniffed the night air. His scent was fresh, so he hadn't been gone long. And it lead off ahead of her, away from the crime scene. Looking in the direction the scent travelled, she could just see the outline of a body several hundred yards ahead of her. She quickly sped off toward Mick.

When Beth reached him, Mick was standing in the same place he'd been standing for the last ten minutes, staring off in the direction the car had driven off in. He had been so close…the killer had been yards away from him…and Mick had let him slip through his fingers. He wore a guilty, forlorn expression. He could have stopped this. He could have ended it. But he'd let the killer slip through the cracks.

Beth saw the forlorn, self-loathing look on Mick's face that she instantly recognized. Something had happened. Something had gone horribly wrong.

"Mick?" She asked quietly, "What happened?"

Mick was silent for a long moment before finally answering in a broken-sounding voice.

"The killer…he was right here. Sitting in his car. I could have caught him…I tried…but he sped off before I could get here. I was so close to catching him. To ending this. Now more women will die. Because I wasn't fast enough."

Beth gave him a pitied look before wrapping her arms around him.

"You're not Superman, Mick." She reminded him.

"Then what good am I?" Mick asked her sullenly. Beth rolled her eyes.

"Well, for starters, you're a hell of a lot closer to solving this case than the police are."

"Did Lt. Davis tell you that?" Mick asked, suddenly curious.

"Well, not in so many words. But I could feel the frustration and stress radiating off of him. And, he's not in the best mood ever. He wouldn't give me anything."

"Too bad…" Mick said, more to himself than to Beth, "I could have used whatever he could give."

"I honestly don't think he had anything _to_ give," Beth said, "But I did manage to shoot some photos of the body while no one was looking."

Beth proudly showed him the pictures. They didn't give Mick much to go on, but they were better than nothing.

"Thank you Beth." He said, planting a kiss on her forehead. "You're amazing, do you know that?"

"Of course I know that. Apparently your judgment is faulty if you didn't before right now." She quipped. Mick chuckled. Beth yawned.

"We should get going back home. I think we could both use a little more sleep." Mick commented, wrapping an arm around his fiancée's shoulder. Beth simply nodded in agreement, steering Beth back to the Benz.

MLMLMLML

Beth and Mick finally got back to Mick's loft, both thoroughly exhausted. Heading into their freezer room, both stripped off their clothes and, yawning, started to climb into their double freezer…that is, until Mick's landline rang. Sighing loudly, Mick and Beth looked at each other.

"I've got it." Mick said, running off down the stairs in seconds flat.

Grabbing the cordless receiver from its cradle, he looked at the caller id. It was Josef. Mick sighed, pushing the 'talk' button and giving a deliberate, exhausted, annoyed "Hello?"

"Mick, it's me." Josef said.

"I know." Mick replied, sounding even more annoyed. "Caller id is a wonderful creation."

"Hey, I did you a favour. I'm taking time out of _my_ busy schedule to help you, so if you want to keep being a smartass-"

"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry." Mick said, his tone suddenly changing to become business-like.

"That's better. See, Mick? You catch more flies with honey-"

"The _results_, Josef." Mick said, becoming annoyed again.

"Alright, alright, sheesh. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the-"

"JOSEF!" Mick shouted. He was in no mood for delays. He wanted to know whether or not Josef could help him catch this psychotic son of a bitch. He wouldn't get away again.

"ALRIGHT, Mick. My lab acquaintances were able to get DNA off those hairs you gave me. They belong to a Zachary Reynolds. Born in Canada, father was Matthew Reynolds, mother was Shawna Wright-Reynolds. He's got no record to speak of. His IQ's off the charts though…195. Looks to be a case of he crossed the line between genius and insanity."

"This is good news, thank you Josef." Mick said, grinning. He now knew the identity of the killer. This was his biggest break yet.

"Yeah, well…next time, I'd appreciate it if you'd be kind enough to be nice when you answer my call…you really hurt my feelings, there, Mick." Josef said, his voice feigning hurt. Mick snorted.

"Josef, you and I both know that you have no soul, and therefore no feelings to hurt."

"Right you are." Josef said, his voice brightening. They both knew that it was a lie. Josef did have feelings, Mick had even gotten glimpses of them. But Josef was thankful for Mick's willingness to keep up Josef's tough guy façade.

"Well…I'm off to bed. 'Night Josef…and thanks again."

"No problem." Josef replied. Mick hung up.

He hurried back up to his freezer, excited and more energetic than he'd been mere moments before.

"Beth! You'll never guess what Josef just told me…"

MLMLMLML

Zachary Reynolds was sitting at his kitchen table, listening to the phone conversation as it took place.

"…a Zachary Reynolds. Born in Canada, father was Matthew Reynolds, mother was Shawna Wright-Reynolds. He's got no record to speak of. His IQ's off the charts though…195. Looks to be a case of he crossed the line between genius and insanity."

"This is good news, thank you Josef."

"Yeah, well…next time, I'd appreciate it if you'd be kind enough to be nice when you answer my call…you really hurt my feelings, there, Mick."

"Josef, you and I both know that you have no soul, and therefore no feelings to hurt."

"Right you are."

"Well…I'm off to bed. 'Night Josef…and thanks again."

"No problem."

The call was cut off. Zachary took off the headphones he'd been using to listen to the conversation and shut down his equipment, shaking his head.

Earlier that week, while St. John and his girlfriend had been out, Zachary had had the opportunity to sneak into St. John's apartment and tap his phones. Getting past the door lock had only been too easy, using his palm pilot to hack into the system and bypass the codes.

Now, as he finished listening to the conversation between St. John and Konstantin, he felt a rather hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. St John knew who he was. St. John was now an imminent threat. He hadn't wanted to be forced to take action against St. John. In fact, he rather liked St. John. He respected him. But now that St. John knew his identity, he had no choice. In the interest of protecting himself, he would have no choice but to strike against St. John. And he had a pretty good idea of how he might do it…

MLMLMLML

A week had passed since the night the latest victim had been discovered. Mick now knew the identity of the murderer…now all he had to do was find the psychopath.

Mick and Beth were sitting in the living room of their apartment, going over case files, when there was a knock at the door. Beth looked up from her laptop and over at Mick, who sighed and got up to answer the door.

With a look over at the screen, Mick opened the door to reveal Rory and Dante behind it.

"Hey Rory, hey Dante." Mick grinned, stepping aside to allow the other two vampires into the apartment. "What brings you here?"

"Well we hadn't heard from you guys in a couple of days, so we decided that we needed to come over and check on you two. Make sure Beth didn't realize the error of her ways, stake you, and run off."

"Aw, thanks, Rory!" Beth said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Nice to know you think so much of me."

"No problem. Love you too." Rory said with a grin.

"Yeah…we've been kind of busy lately." Mick said with a sheepish grin. "We're investigating the recent string of murders. You two want something to drink?" Mick offered. Rory and Dante nodded. Mick retreated into the kitchen area and emerged seconds later, carrying two glasses of blood. Dante and Rory took them gratefully and Mick sat back down on the couch.

"So…" Rory began, "Any leads?"

"Yeah, actually," Mick grinned, "Josef knew a guy who owns a lab…he was able to ID the killer based on some hairs I was able to obtain from one of the crime scenes."

"Really?" Rory asked. "Who is he? What's his name?"

"Zachary Reynolds." Mick said, matter-of-factly. "Some genius from Canada."

Rory coughed, choking on the blood she had just sipped. She had somehow managed to inhale some of it, so that blood came trickling out her nose. She continued to cough and hack for several minutes, a shocked look on her face and her eyes as wide as saucers. When her choking fit finally managed to pass and she'd gratefully accepted the Kleenex Dante offered her to wipe away the blood that she'd sprayed out her nose, she fixed Mick with an intense stare.

"Zachary Reynolds? Are you sure?" She asked. Mick nodded.

"Why? Do you know him?"

"Know him?" Rory questioned weakly, still looking as though she'd just been told that her lost puppy hadn't run away, but instead had run headlong into a wood chipper. "I went to high school with him. He's my ex-boyfriend!"

TBC…

AN: Yeah, I know, I'm evil with a capital 'E'. But you have to admit…it's a pretty good twist. Truthfully, though, I never intended on taking the story this way…but then again, I didn't really have a choice in the matter. It held a gun to my head and told me to drive. Lol. Yeah…that's about the only way I can accurately describe what happened. Anyway, so…yeah. Forgive the weak beginning…I had some writer's block and I had a really hard time writing the first bit of it. My writer's block was so bad, in fact, that I had to force myself to sit down and write it. But…I got it done. And I'm happy with the way this chapter turned out, for the most part. The new twist I've taken just so happens to fit perfectly with some other wonderful twists I've got planned for later…teehee! More ominous foreshadowing! It's such fun! Hooray for being cryptic! Sorry…sleep deprivation talking again. I'll be fine…I'll just go play in my random corner until I feel somewhat sane. Yeah…I do spend a lot of time in the random corner. (Hangs Head) But…it's a very nice random corner. It's got a high-definition LCD flat screen T.V. :D Lol. Anyway…hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I'll try to update soon…after my other two fanfics…

Love always, Cat.


	5. Fistfights and Other General Chaos

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Moonlight, no, there's no monetary gain, and yes, I would like to be a Jason Alexandwich

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Moonlight, no, there's no monetary gain, and yes, I _would_ like to be a Jason Alexandwich. Wait…can anyone sell me the rights to _them_? (Evil Grin)

AN: Okay, so here's the next chapter…not much to report today, so I'll just let you get right to it. Because I'm nice like that. :D

A stunned silence suddenly filled the air as the three other vampires in the room fought to absorb Rory's shocking revelation. Perhaps the most surprised of all was Dante. He looked unable to speak.

Rory looked lost in her own thoughts. And judging by the horrified expression on her face, they weren't good ones. Suddenly, tears filled her eyes as she stood up abruptly, grabbed her stuff, and headed for the door.

Dante stood up.

"Wait…Rory…where are you going?" He asked, clearly confused beyond all measure.

Rory didn't even look at him as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, I just…I can't…not right now…I just can't be here!"

Overcome by a fit of sobbing, she ran out the door, shutting it with a slam behind her. With their superior vampire hearing, Mick, Beth, and Dante listened as her steps faded. She hadn't even bothered waiting for the elevator…she'd just run down the stairs.

Dante just sat down, a confused expression on his face. He stared at the others, silently asking them what exactly had just transpired. They just stared back at him.

His gaze straying over toward the door, Mick began to wonder if maybe there was something she wasn't sharing with them. It had seemed like a pretty normal reaction considering what she'd just been told, but still…there was something bothering him about it. At the moment she had gotten up to leave, he could sense the fear that had come off of her, a nearly overwhelming scent. But there was something else…something hidden underneath the smell of terror. Could it have been…guilt? Regret? Self-loathing? He was almost positive that it had been. He couldn't understand it…what about the situation could have made her feel guilty? Perhaps the thought that she had brought this down upon them somehow? No…Mick was almost sure that wasn't it. But then…what could it have been?

His eyes strayed back over to Dante. Dante looked as though he had no idea what had just transpired. Clearly, he hadn't picked up on the faint emotions that Mick had…or, if he had, he was even more bewildered than Mick was.

He looked over at Beth, who turned her gaze to his own. She was looking to him for an explanation as to what had just happened. She also had that same look in her eyes that appeared every time she went into 'investigative mode'. Clearly she had a question in her mind…and Mick knew by that look that it was the same one that was running through his own mind…could the sudden appearance of Zachary Reynolds have anything to with his past connection with Rory?

MLMLMLML

It had been exactly nine days since Rory and Dante's seemingly routing visit had changed the entire course of the investigation. Since that day, when he had discovered Rory's connection to Zachary, Mick had been even more determined to track him down. Since that day he had begun to worry for Rory's safety…that perhaps Reynolds had just happened to appear because he had some sort of sick sadistic plan for her.

In fact, the more Mick considered it, the more it made sense that Zachary had some hidden agenda involving Rory. After all…Rory had left Canada some years ago, somehow finding her way to L.A. From what he'd gathered about her past (which was surprisingly little, considering she didn't much talk about it) she hadn't gone there with the intent of settling down. It just sort of…happened. So the fact that Zachary had suddenly shown up where Rory had just happened to be, miles away from where he had first met her…it was just plain suspicious. In Mick's mind, it was just too perfect to be coincidence.

Unfortunately, Mick had no idea whatsoever what Reynolds might have planned for Rory…or why, for that matter. He hadn't even seen her since that day, let alone had an opportunity to speak to her. Not that he was optimistic that she would tell him anything, even if he did manage to make contact with her. According to Dante, she'd barely even spoken to _him_ since that day. This shocked mick; she and Dante talked about everything. Why was Rory suddenly shutting out him as well?

Mick shook his head, sighing as he closed the laptop sitting on his desk and rubbing his eyes wearily. He'd been searching for any sign of Zachary Reynolds for two weeks solid. And he'd come up with nothing. Finding out his identity was one thing, but finding the man himself…that was another thing entirely. Reynolds was a master at covering his tracks…and Mick was infuriated and frustrated by his lack of progress.

Mick leaned back, closing his eyes with a sigh. After a few moments of undisturbed silent solitude, Mick was met with a familiar, comforting scent washing over him.

"Mick?" Beth asked quietly, walking into the room on silent feet and, after placing a cup on the desk in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Mick inhaled deeply, Beth's close proximity with him filling his senses and soothing his nerves. He opened his eyes and stared into her kind, sympathetic face.

"Mick, honey, you've been working non-stop for five hours now. You haven't eaten since this morning. Maybe it's time to take a break." She said, reaching over to where she'd set down the glass of blood she'd brought into the room with her and waving it appetizingly under his nose. Mick's mouth watered at the sweet coppery smell and his eyes bled milky white. He could feel his fangs pushing against his bottom lip. He took the glass gratefully and downed it. He had been so caught up in his work that he hadn't even realized how hungry he was.

"Thank you, Beth." He said, handing her back the empty glass and pulling her down toward him for a soft, tender kiss on the lips, "You're always taking care of me."

"Somebody had to," Beth quipped, grinning mischievously, "or else you'd die of starvation. Honestly, Mick. I have no idea how you ever managed to survive on your own. Now, seriously, it's time to take a break."

Mick looked up at her with weary brown eyes. He knew she was right. She had an annoyingly bad habit of it. But still…he needed to find this killer. Mick was becoming obsessed with Reynolds, and he knew it. But finding Reynolds had become about more than public safety. It had become about removing a threat to Rory…to his family.

"I know I've been working really hard Beth. But this case…it's different from any other I've ever encountered. Zachary Reynolds is good at what he does…he's slippery as hell. But I have to find him…I need to get him off the streets. Every second I waste in finding him is a second he has to get further away from me. And it gives him a chance to kill more girls."

Beth sighed and hugged him again, more tightly this time.

"I know, Mick. And I know that your insistence on finding him has more than a little to do with your need to ensure Rory's safety." Mick looked at her. He hadn't discussed the fact that he felt Rory was in danger with her. She saw his look and smiled grimly. "I'm not stupid, Mick. I'm worried too. But Dante's there to look out for her. We know she's safe. Now…I think I've got an idea how to take our mind off of things."

Beth grinned mischievously as her eyes turned from sapphire blue to milky white. Mick gave a grin of his own as he allowed his features to take on the change and jumped to his feet, taking Beth into his arms and running her up to their freezer room…

MLMLMLML

Rory was sitting in her living room. Alone. She had barely spoken to Dante in the past nine days. In fact, she'd barely spoken to anyone in the last nine days. Dante was becoming increasingly frustrated with her sudden desire to put as much space as possible between herself and the world. It wasn't his fault. He couldn't help it. But with everything that had happened lately, she just…couldn't. She couldn't tell him what it was that was on her mind these days. She wasn't sure how he'd react. And she really wasn't sure herself how to deal with all of this. Zachary Reynolds had most unexpectedly wormed his way back into her life…bringing with him some extremely painful memories.

Rory gave a loud sigh, sniffling as she wiped away her fresh tears. All of the tension and frustration lately had caused her and Dante to have another fight. He had stormed out in a huff nearly ten minutes ago. Which was why she now found herself sitting alone in tears in the middle of her living room.

Rory reached for her phone. She was tired of shouldering this burden by herself. She needed to talk to someone. She wished desperately that she could bring herself to tell Dante, but…she just wasn't sure how he'd react. She couldn't talk to Mick or Beth…she was sure they'd try to convince her to tell Dante. She wasn't sure she could right now. So she dialled a number that had become all too familiar to her. She talked to him a lot…he was like an older brother to her. And he was non-judgemental…she knew he had secrets of his own. Many of which he'd shared with her. Now it was her turn to share a secret…possibly the deepest and darkest she'd ever kept.

"Hey, Josef, it's Rory. Listen…do you think that you might possibly be able to stop by? I just…I need to talk."

MLMLMLML

"…And so I left. I left and never looked back. I guess I thought that maybe, if I put enough distance between that place and myself, I'd be able to forget it. But I couldn't. I've spent nearly half my life trying to run from what happened…trying to run from myself. But I couldn't run from the past. I tried to forget…did my best not to think about it. I was doing a pretty good job…until all this business with Zachary. It's one of my biggest regrets…I just, I could never bring myself to face what I did."

Josef nodded silently. He'd arrived twenty minutes after her phone call. He'd held her while she'd cried and listened as she'd poured her heart out to him. He had to admit; it was quite a secret she'd been keeping. And she'd held it in for years.

"I understand why something like that would be hard to discuss with Dante." Josef said finally. He handed her a tissue and said, "We all have our regrets, Rory. We all have our albatross. Mine, for example, is Sarah. You can't spend forever wallowing in your own self-pity."

Rory nodded. Josef had told her about Sara a few weeks before. She knew that Mick and Beth had been to New York and seen Sarah a few years ago, and that was the only reason they knew. Dante was the only one who didn't know about Sarah. And Rory hadn't told him. Josef would say something himself when he felt the time was right.

"I know, I just…" Rory started, then burst into a fresh fit of tears. Josef pulled her into his arms and held her while she bawled. Then, sniffling, she gave a humourless laugh. "I guess the past really _does _always come back to bite you in the ass.

"Shh…it's okay, Rory." Josef soothed as he held her.

They sat like that for a long time. Both jumped and looked suddenly around as the door opened. Dante walked into the apartment with a bouquet of roses in his hand. He stopped just inside the door, taking in the scene before him with a shocked expression. After standing there for a moment staring, his face lost its expression of shock and immediately took on one of cold fury. Rory winced. He was getting completely the wrong idea.

"Dante, wait…it's not how it looks-"

"Oh, it isn't? Then tell me how it is!" Dante fumed. Without even giving her a moment to explain herself, Dante continued, "So this is why you haven't been talking to me, huh?"

"Dante it's not like that." Josef said calmly, although his body tensed as anger at Dante's accusation coursed through him.

"Oh, sure. Don't even bother trying to lie to me…I've seen the looks you've given her. Seen the way you talk to her. It's obvious you still have a thing for her! God, I'm such an idiot…I should have seen this coming. And to think…I actually thought you were my friend!"

"Dante be reasonable." Josef positively growled as he fought furiously with himself to keep his anger under wraps. "I though we were past all this."

"So did I. But I guess I was wrong." Dante growled. His eyes began to bleed milky white. He stepped fully into the apartment, turning and walking into the kitchen. Not facing them, he dropped the bouquet of roses into the garbage and leaned against the counter.

"Get out of my apartment, Josef. And take that slut with you." He said, an icy, forced calm in his voice.

Rory just looked at his back, fresh tears welling up in her icy blue eyes. She furiously grabbed her coat, turned, and headed toward the door. She stopped just long enough to slide her engagement ring off her finger, turn around, and throw it across the room. Then she continued out the door of the apartment and toward the elevator.

Josef watched as Rory left. He had purposely waited until she had left before unleashing the vampire. His eyes went suddenly pure milky white and, without warning, he threw himself at Dante, snarling furiously. He took Dante by surprise, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and throwing him into a wall across the room.

Dante unleashed his own inner vamp, jumping quickly to his feet and charging Josef. He grabbed at the older vampire's throat with one hand and punched him several times with enough force to knock out a fully-grown elephant with the other.

In response, Josef grabbed Dante by the throat and threw him backward over the couch and into a wall.

MLMLMLML

As Rory got out of the elevator and headed for the front entrance of the apartment building, she pulled out her cell phone and called Mick.

"Hello?" Came Mick's voice from the other end of the line.

"Hey Mick, it's me." Rory said. She was doing her best to keep a steady voice. "Listen…I've just had an argument with Dante, and Josef's upstairs in the apartment with him. I won't go into details right now, but I'm pretty sure that if they're not already fighting, they will be soon. I'm on my way over to your place now…I'll explain then. For now, would you mind coming over here and making sure they don't tear each other apart?"

"Yeah, sure." Mick said. He sounded concerned. He hadn't been fooled by Rory's attempt to keep her voice steady. "I'm on my way over now. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just…I've had a long day. Can you hurry please?"

"I'm on my way." Mick replied. Rory disconnected the call.

Still trying not to bawl, Rory stepped out the front door of the building. She walked around the side of the building, being careful to avoid too much direct contact with the sun, to the practically deserted lot where her car was parked.

Nearing her car, she heard footsteps behind her. A scent met her nostrils. A scent she knew. She whirled around quickly, turning to face her follower. She was met with a wooden stake being jammed into her chest. She didn't even have time to react. Shocked and paralysed, she stared up wildly at her attacker with vampire eyes. She stared up into a young, rather handsome face framed by jet-black hair.

"Hello Rory." Zachary said, picking up her paralysed form and loading her into the back seat of his car. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"

MLMLMLML

Mick had arrived at Rory's apartment building about ten minutes after she'd called him. Luckily, he didn't live overly far away.

He wasn't sure what exactly he was going to find when he arrived there. He just hoped that he wouldn't find too much bloodshed. Although Mick knew that Josef would win easily in a fight with Dante. The 400-year-old Josef could easily overpower the six-month old Dante. Mick just prayed to whatever God might happen to be listening at the time that Josef hadn't lost his temper. Because Dante would have no idea how powerful Josef truly was.

MLMLMLML

Josef and Dante had been wrestling for a while. The apartment was in shambles around them. Josef had to admit, for a six-month old vampire, Dante handled himself incredibly well.

Josef had just thrown Dante, yet again, into a wall. There were several gaping holes in the walls where one or the other of them had been thrown. Dante got up and, with a fierce snarl, charged Josef yet again. Josef quickly grabbed the younger vampire and pinned him to the floor. Enough was enough. Now Dante was going to listen.

"LET GO OF ME!" Dante snarled, struggling to no avail against his significantly older opponent.

"No. You're going to clean the shit out of your ears and listen to me. There is nothing going on between Rory and I. She needed to talk, so I listened. That's all it was. Nothing more. Yes, I do still have feelings for her…I always will. But she chose _you_ Dante, for whatever inexplicable reason, as you don't seem to respect her. Our relationship is purely platonic. She's like a sister to me. Furthermore…should she by some miracle happen to forgive you for your incredible stupidity, and should you ever get it in your idiotic jackass brain to call her a slut again, I will not exercise restraint. I will tear you limb from limb with my bare hands, so help me god. And I won't kill you first."

Dante growled and struggled beneath him, snapping his jaws.

"You fucking son of a bitch! I'll KILL YOU!"

Josef felt anger flare up in him again at Dante's outburst and, grabbing him painfully by a handful of hair, smashed Dante's head several times against the floor.

"JOSEF! Get off of him!" A voice rang out from the doorway.

Growling, Josef obeyed, standing up and turning around to face Mick.

"He called Rory a slut!" Josef argued, as Dante pulled himself up off the floor. "What was I supposed to do, let him get away with it?"

Mick looked around the room in front of him and at the two vampires standing in front of him. He pinched the bridge of his nose. This was one of those moments where, if he had been human, he would have had a splitting migraine.

"Here's what we're going to do." He said, "First of all, we're going to get this place cleaned up. And by we, I mean the two of you. This is absolutely disgraceful. Then, Josef, you're going to head back to your place and calm the hell down. Dante, you're going to come with me to my place and we're going to discuss what the hell it was that happened here-"

"I can tell you exactly what it was that happened!" Josef interrupted.

"I WASN'T ASKING YOU, JOSEF!" Mick snarled, his eyes bleeding white for a fleeting moment before he managed to reign in the inner beast. Josef fell immediately silent. He knew damn well he could take Mick easily. But that didn't stop Mick from being downright scary when he had a mind to be. "Now…get to it!" Mick growled. Neither Josef or Dante protested.

MLMLMLML

Beth was sitting on the sofa in the living room of her and Mick's loft waiting for Rory to show up. Just before rushing out the door, Mick had mentioned something about Rory and Dante getting into an argument, and that Rory was on her way over. So Beth had been waiting for the better part of twenty minutes. Suddenly, there came a knock on the door. Beth got up and rushed to answer it. Sparing a glance at the wall screen, however, she was confused to find not Rory standing there, but an unfamiliar-looking young black-haired man. Confused, she opened the door.

"Can I-" She started, and then stopped dead. As soon as she'd opened the door, a scent had washed over her. A familiar scent. One that froze her to the core.

Without warning, before she even had time to scream, the man produced a stake from the waistband of his jeans and plunged it into her heart. Her eyes bled white as, immobilized, she fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Hello, miss Turner. My name is Zachary Reynolds…in case you had any question. Yes, I know what you are. And I'm fully aware that your boyfriend, St. John, has been tracking me. It's rather unfortunate that we had to meet under these circumstances, but you see, he's gotten to be a bit of a threat to me. He's gotten too close to the truth. So I have no real choice in this matter. Again, I'm very sorry about this…"

With that, Zachary picked up Beth's limp, paralysed body, slung it over his shoulder, and carried it down to his waiting car.

TBC…

AN: Sorry again for the wait…I know this has definitely been a long time coming. I haven't been much up to writing lately…I've had a lot of writer's block. Anyway, this chapter didn't quite turn out to my satisfaction, but…here it is anyway. It covers the major plot-advancing material I needed for it. So…I guess it did sort of turn out okay. Anyway…yeah. I'll try to do a better job with the next chapter. But here it is. Enjoy!

Love always, Cat.


	6. Angry AssKicking Vamp Mode

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Though I might just as well own it, as CBS has given up their rights to it. But as a loyal member of the Moonlight Army, I haven't given up hope yet that someone will hear our call, and that our battle will eventually lead to victory.

AN: I know you're all bummed to hear about CBS and their decision to cancel Moonlight. I was absolutely devastated. I, however, am not giving up hope that someone will see the potential of our show and pick it up. We may be down, but we're not out quite yet. Yes, it is an uphill battle, but the odds are not impossible. And in the end, it's not whether or not we're successful that matters. It's the satisfaction at the end of the day that comes with the knowledge that, no matter what the outcome, we fought tooth and nail for what we believed in, and we did all in our power to save it. Anyway, enough of my battle cries. On with the next chapter of Dark Side of the Moon.

Rory stirred slightly, finding herself able to move but incredibly weak. She also felt as though her veins were on fire. Her throat was dry, her chest heavy. It was a struggle even to open her eyes. And the thirst…oh, how she thirsted for the coppery, life-sustaining fluid that was blood. The need to feel it, fresh, thick, over her swollen, aching tongue was almost unendurable. Almost maddening.

She couldn't remember blacking out. It was only her return to consciousness that even alerted her to the fact that she had been unconscious at all. As she opened her eyes, she found that she was in a room with a very bright light. One that caused pain to radiate through her eyes at the mere sight of it. Quickly clamping her eyes tightly shut again, she struggled to turn over onto her side, so she wouldn't be looking directly at the light. She opened her eyes a fraction as she took in her surroundings.

She was in a small room, a basement or a storm cellar, perhaps. The only light in the room came from a single lamp mounted to the wall. The floor beneath her was cold concrete, a comfort considering the thick, humid air around her. And the light…she couldn't understand how it could burn so much…synthetic light wasn't supposed to hurt that much. Then the realization dawned on her, explained the sudden debilitating weakness she felt, explained the burning and the pain and the thirst…the light in the room wasn't ordinary, synthetic lighting. It was UV lighting.

A soft moan from a corner of the small prison indicated to Rory that she wasn't alone. Mustering all of her strength, she managed to turn her head toward the source of the sound. A single thought ran through her head as her eyes found the room's other occupant.

Oh, god no…

It was Beth. Curled weakly in the fetal position at the other end of the room, clearly in the same weakened state. He'd gotten her, too. Zachary had gotten Beth. She was suffering because of Rory. Because of whatever evil, twisted plan he'd had for Rory. It was Rory's fault. She'd dragged Beth into this.

MLMLMLML

With the aid of their vampire speed, it hadn't taken Josef and Dante very long to clean up the apartment. True, there were still gaping holes in the walls, and some of the furniture was beyond repair, but they picked up what they could, and after Josef promised to pay for the damages done during the fight, Mick decided that it was good enough and they all left the apartment.

While Josef climbed into his limousine to head back to his mansion, Dante followed Mick to his car and climbed in the passenger side. The air was tense as they drove to Mick's loft, and after a few moments of strained silence, Mick finally decided that he would have to be the one to break it.

"So…" he began, looking briefly over at Dante before shifting his eyes back to the road, "you wanna tell me what happened back there?"

"Not really." Dante replied, not meeting Mick's eyes as Mick glanced over at him again. Mick watched out of the corner of his eye as Dante reached into his pocket and pulled out Rory's engagement ring. He looked at it sourly. Mick sighed.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked, once again giving Dante a sideways glance.

"It was nothing." Dante replied, shaking his head and frowning at the ring in his hand. He still refused to look at Mick.

"Look, Dante…one way or another, I'm going to find out exactly what it was that happened, whether you're going to tell me or not. We're going to sort this all out when we get back to my place, because if you don't want to tell me, I'll ask Rory-"

"Rory's at your place?" Dante asked, giving Mick an incredulous look.

"Yeah, and she's pretty upset right now. If I'm going to help you two work this out, I need you to tell me what happened back there. So…I'm gonna ask you again…you wanna tell me what happened back there?"

Dante looked away from Mick again and sighed. He was still raw from the whole incident, and wanted nothing more than to sit and sulk alone somewhere. But he knew that Mick wasn't about to let any of this go. So he did the only thing he could do. He broke down and told Mick what happened.

"I guess it all really started when we found out the identity of the killer. Since then, Rory and I…well, she's just become really distant. She hasn't been talking to me like she usually does, and…things have gotten pretty tense. We had another fight this afternoon, and I stormed out of the apartment." He paused for a moment, as if trying to decide how best to phrase what he was going to say next. Finally, he continued. "After I took a few hours to cool down, I went back to the apartment to apologize. When I got back to the apartment, Josef was there. And she…" he stopped and took an unnecessary breath before continuing, "they were embracing. I caught him with her in his arms, and…and I got angry. I'm not proud of what I did. I called her a slut and she stormed off. Then Josef attacked me and we got into it. It was right about then that you showed up."

Mick was silent for a moment, mulling it all over. "I see…" he said slowly.

"I just…I lost control of myself. I've seen the looks he's given her…I know he still has feelings for her. I just…I guess I thought we were past this whole business. But I saw them together…and the fact that she was talking to _him_, but she wouldn't talk to me…I got jealous." Dante said, hanging his head. "Rory's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I love her more than I've ever loved anyone. I just…lately I'm so scared that I'm gonna lose her. And I just…I don't know if I could live through that. She's my whole life…she means everything to me."

Mick nodded. He knew exactly what Dante was saying. He could only imagine what he'd do if things ever got that way between him and Beth. She was his reason for living.

"Well," he said slowly, glancing sideways at Dante, "we'll get this whole mess sorted out, okay? I'm sure things aren't nearly as bad as you think they are."

Dante nodded slowly, looking at least slightly comforted by Mick's words. The rest of the drive was spent in silence. Dante gazed out the window, not really taking in the passing scenery, mulling over what Mick had said. He was sure Mick was right…sure that things weren't nearly as bad as he perceived them to be…but then again, he had been a complete ass back at the apartment. No doubt he had only aggravated the situation. He only hoped that he would be able to repair the damage he'd done between him and Rory in his moment of anger. Still…what if he hadn't been wrong about Josef's intentions toward her. The mere thought of Josef made anger once again rise up in Dante.

They finally reached Mick's building, and Dante felt the fear rise up in him. What exactly was he going to say to Rory? What could he say? He'd screwed up hugely this time.

Sensing his friend's unease, Mick placed a hand on Dante's shoulder.

"It'll be okay." He said reassuringly, offering a small smile of support. "Beth and I will be here to help you guys talk this through."

Dante nodded, managing a small smile as they stepped into the elevator and made their way up to Mick's floor.

As soon as the doors opened, Mick sensed that something was wrong. He looked over to Dante, who also seemed to sense that something was off. The two of them quietly and cautiously stepped off the elevator, and Mick took a deep breath in.

No. Oh, god, please no!

He ran toward his door with his vampire speed, the scent of Beth's blood in his nostrils, mingling with a scent he knew all too well. A scent that sent shivers down his spine.

The door was ajar, and a small pool of blood had soaked into the carpet. Mick breathed in again, this time conjuring a vision of what had transpired there.

_Beth opened the door, a confused expression on her face._

"_Can I-" She started, and then stopped dead. She recognized the scent._

_Without warning, before she even had time to scream, the man standing on the other side produced a stake from the waistband of his jeans and plunged it into her heart. Her eyes bled white as, immobilized, she fell to the floor with a loud thud. _

"Hello, miss Turner. My name is Zachary Reynolds…in case you had any question. Yes, I know what you are. And I'm fully aware that your boyfriend, St. John, has been tracking me. It's rather unfortunate that we had to meet under these circumstances, but you see, he's gotten to be a bit of a threat to me. He's gotten too close to the truth. So I have no real choice in this matter. Again, I'm very sorry about this…"

_Zachary picked up Beth's limp, paralysed body, slung it over his shoulder, and carried it away._

Mick opened his eyes and dropped to his knees.

"No, no, god, no! This can't be happening! This isn't happening!" He said to himself over and over, tears welling up in his eyes.

"What-" Dante began, confused. Then he took a deep breath, Beth's kidnapping flashing before his eyes. When the vision ended, Dante looked at Mick with wide eyes.

"The bastard's got Beth." He said. Mick nodded.

"And what about Rory?" He asked, fear rising in the pit of his stomach. Mick didn't respond. "Rory?" Dante called, his voice suddenly frantic. His mind raced with a million and one different scenarios as he entered Mick's apartment, calling her name over and over, looking behind every door, inside every room, hoping to find her. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn't going to happen. Rory hadn't even gotten there. Her scent was absent from the place, the only trace of it over a week old. Stale. There was no fresh scent. She hadn't been there.

Still, despite every one of his senses telling him that Rory wasn't there, he continued to look. The last-bid effort of a desperate man. When he finally accepted the fact that she just wasn't there, he pulled out his cell phone and dialled hers.

"Come on, come on, pick up!" He growled as he paced back and forth across the room. There was no answer on the other end. Finally, the call went to voicemail.

Dante slammed his phone shut with a snarl and threw it against the nearest wall. It shattered into a million pieces, littering the floor with debris.

He turned to Mick, who was now standing in the doorway. His immediate hopeless reaction had been replaced by one of rage.

"You don't think maybe she's gone elsewhere, do you?" Dante asked, already knowing what Mick's answer would be, but not wanting to believe it to be possible. "I mean, she hasn't been here in over a week, and-"

"He's got her." Mick replied, cold fury in his voice, "If he's got Beth, he'll no doubt have gone after her. Probably got to her before she could get here."

It was Dante's turn to fall to pieces.

"What are we going to do, Mick? What are we going to do?" He asked, pacing back and forth. "We can't just sit around and wait for-"

"We have no idea where he might have taken them." Mick pointed out. Dante gave a helpless snarl and collapsed onto the couch, his head in his hands.

"I can't believe this is happening. It can't be-"

Mick walked over to Dante and pulled him roughly to his feet. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"Pull yourself together, Dante." He said, determined anger blazing in his eyes. "Falling to pieces isn't going to help us here. We need to come up with a plan. I have a feeling he wants Beth and Rory for more than just-"

"A FEELING?!" Dante snarled, grabbing the front of Mick's shirt now. "YOU'RE GOING TO WAGER BETH AND RORY'S LIVES ON A FEELING?"

"It's the only plan we've got right now!" Mick snarled back, his voice even though his eyes flashed dangerously white. "Now…as I was saying…I have a feeling Zachary wants them for more than just toying with. I think he wants them for bargaining chips…to bargain with us. We have something he wants."

"And what might that be?" Dante asked sardonically.

"We have evidence against him." Mick said. Dante's anger melted away. What Mick was saying…it made sense. And if what Mick was saying was true, then there was still hope that they could save Rory and Beth.

Dante breathed out slowly, releasing his grip on the front of Mick's shirt. Mick let go of the front of Dante's shirt and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We have to wait for him to contact us…" Mick said. He gave Dante a serious look. "He will. Don't worry. But like I said…falling apart won't do us any good. We need to come up with a plan of attack…we need to be organized." He stopped and grinned, chuckling to himself. "You know…when you and Beth were kidnapped last time, I fell to pieces…just like you're doing now. It was Rory that held me together, that pushed me on when I thought the odds were impossible."

Dante smiled and chuckled, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"That's just like her…" he said, grinning, "Always keeping a level-head in the worst situations…always being the strong one…carrying everyone else when they can't keep going on their own…"

Mick squeezed Dante's shoulder and gave him a little shake.

"And now it's our turn to be strong. For her. For Beth. They'll make it through this. They're strong…they'll keep each other going."

Dante smiled.

"You're right, Mick."

"Of course I am." Mick smiled. He let go of Dante's shoulder and walked away, digging his cell phone out of his pocket and dialling a number.

"What are you-" Dante began to ask. But Mick interrupted him before he finished.

"We're going to need all the help we can get." Mick told him. Then the person on the other end picked up.

"Josef? It's Mick. Something's happened. Something bad. I need you and Ryder to meet me at my place as soon as possible…"

MLMLMLML

"Beth?" Rory called out weakly. Her voice was hoarse and barely audible. Her throat was dry, so dry that simply calling out to Beth had felt as though she'd torn a piece of her throat out.

Beth moaned, struggling to move so that she could look at Rory. As they finally locked eyes, Beth looked confused.

"Rory?" She asked hoarsely, before grimacing in pain. "He got you too…"

"Yeah." Rory replied weakly. She wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been in the room, but judging by her incredibly weakened state, she'd spent at least a few hours exposed to the UV lamp. And judging by the way Beth looked, Beth had also been there for a few hours.

Rory looked up as Beth began mumbling to herself.

"Thirsty…so thirsty…rivers of blood…everywhere…"

Rory was startled. She wasn't sure exactly what was happening to Beth, but by the looks of things, it didn't bode well. Then it hit her: Beth was hallucinating. Most likely due to the effects of the UV lighting, combined with her thirst.

"Beth?" Rory asked. "Beth…come on, Beth. Stay with me here."

"It's everywhere but…but I just can't reach it." Beth continued to mumble, before beginning to shake violently.

"BETH!" Rory said frantically. She fought her own exhaustion and dragged herself over to where Beth lay shaking. Rory realized that Beth's body was going into shock, both from the lack of blood in her system and from the UV rays. Rory knew that, as a younger vampire, Beth needed to feed more often than Rory did. Which was why, as of yet, Rory was not as far gone as Beth was. Until they were a year old, vampires needed to feed more often than vampires over the age of a year.

"Beth! Come on, Beth!" Rory said as loudly as she could muster in her weakened condition. She had no idea what she was supposed to do…Beth needed blood, and fast, but…where would she get it?

Then an idea occurred to Rory. What if she fed Beth her own blood? True, Rory was a vampire, and she wasn't exactly sure how much good her blood would ultimately do Beth, as it lacked most of the nutrients human blood had, but…it was worth a try. It might at least do _some _good…

Not pausing to think anymore on the matter, Rory tore open her own wrist and began pouring blood into Beth's mouth. She knew she couldn't give Beth too much, being in a weakened state herself, but Beth needed as much as Rory could possibly spare…

Rory was relieved when Beth finally stopped convulsing. Rory fed her blood to Beth until she reached the limit of what she was able to give, and licked her wrist. Her wound was healing slowly…too slowly, and Rory began to fear that she would bleed out before it could heal. That was when she saw it…a small, furry lump in the corner of the room. She grabbed for it, and was relieved to find that she could still move fast enough that it couldn't get away.

She stared down at the rat writhing in her hands. It was fairly large, and Rory could practically feel the blood pumping through it. She found herself suddenly torn between her thoughts that this was a horrible, disgusting idea, and between her animalistic instincts, which told her that she needed blood.

After a split-second spent weighing her options, Rory realized that she didn't exactly have the luxury of being a picky eater, and sank her fangs into the writhing rodent.

The blood tasted terrible…bitter and dirty, and she suddenly felt the need to wash her mouth out. She wanted to gag, but fought back the urge as she quickly swallowed the blood that seeped into her mouth. She could feel herself gaining at least some strength, and she felt the rat clutched in her hands slow and finally stop moving altogether.

It didn't take long for her to drain the rodent…and it was only good for a ew mouthfuls anyway, but it gave her body the much-needed ability to heal after she'd fed her blood to Beth. Relieved, she placed the rat's carcass down on the floor beside her and looked at her now fully-healed wrist. She knew that vampires weren't meant to drink the blood of animals, but in a pinch like this, it sufficed.

She glanced over at Beth, who lay motionless on the cold, concrete floor. She wasn't dead…not yet, anyway…just unconscious. Rory's blood was doing some good, as Beth seemed to look a lot better.

Just as that thought drifted through Rory's head, she was suddenly overtaken by a spasm of pain shooting through her stomach. Rory groaned as another one followed quickly on the heels of the first. Her insides were writhing in protest, and she felt as though she wanted to vomit. She began sweating profusely and curled up into a ball on the floor. She moaned and whimpered and rocked back and forth as wave after wave of pain ran through her body, and at that moment, death suddenly didn't seem so bad.

TBC…

AN: I'd just like to apologize again for the wait. You see, I got some bad writer's block while working on my Firefly fic, which turned out to be the single longest thing I've ever written (English assignments not included). I also took a bit of a break while working on my Firefly fic to work on some of my own stuff. I've had a couple of ideas in the works for a while now, and I was inspired to work on them, so…yeah. Anyway, thank you all for reading, and for being so patient while waiting for this chapter. Here's hoping Moonlight is truly as immortal as Mick, and rises from the ashes. Remember, it's always important to believe in what you're fighting for, but it's even _more _important always to fight for what you believe in!

Love always, Cat.


	7. Three pissed off, Territorial Vampires

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Though I might just as well own it, as CBS has given up their rights to it.

AN: Once again, my utmost and sincere apologies for the agonizingly long time in between updates. In between severe writer's block, exam stuff, and spending nearly a week at my best friend's house becoming shamelessly attached to her adorable 3 month old niece, I've been sort of busy. Oh, and I've been doing an on-line Civics course as well. Anyway, you good people have waited long enough for a continuation of the story, so I'll keep my ramblings short and sweet. Here's chapter 7, folks!

The hours passed slowly for Mick, Josef, and Dante. Five long, tense hours had passed since Beth and Rory's disappearance, and it was beginning to take a toll on the patience of the three male vampires. A lot of people would say that it was a bad idea for three anxious, territorial, enraged vampires to be in an enclosed space for such a long period of time. Well, a lot of people would be right.

Since Josef had arrived, they had all been waiting anxiously for some sort of message from Reynolds. Josef paced anxiously across the apartment, while Dante sat in the corner repeatedly cracking his knuckles. Mick sat on the couch, hand hovering over the phone, staring off into space. All of them had worst-case scenarios of what might be happening to Beth and Rory playing on a loop in their minds, each scenario more gruesome and dastardly than the last. None of them spoke.

Each time they heard a noise, the movement of the elevator in the hallway, the ring of one of their phones, they would jump up and move with vamp-speed toward the source of the noise. Each time, however, they were devastated and angered to find that it wasn't a message from Reynolds.

As each hour passed, Mick became less and less sure of what Reynolds planned on doing next. Just a few short hours ago he'd been _positive_ that Reynolds wanted something, that he planned on using Beth and Rory to blackmail Mick into handing over all of the evidence against him. Otherwise, why would Reynolds have meticulously planned and orchestrated this whole event. Mick was sure that Reynolds had already had some dastardly plan in mind concerning Rory…but Beth? What did she have to do with all of this, other than the fact that she was connected to Mick?

After five hours of waiting, however, Mick was beginning to doubt that Reynolds was going to contact him at all. What if Reynolds had done this simply to play with Mick's mind? What if he was doing this to punish Mick? What if Mick really wouldn't ever see Beth again? At this deeply disturbing thought, Mick began to feel sick. Soon, however, his train of thought was disturbed by two very loud voices to his left. Looking in the direction of the disturbance, he found that Dante had moved from his spot in the corner and was now standing face to face with Josef, both of them vamped out, their faces centimetres apart.

"…You shouldn't even be here anyway. It's not like this has anything to do with you." Dante growled at Josef. Josef's eyes flashed dangerously, but he remained silent. "I have no idea why Mick even called you."

"He called me here because I have the resources to find Reynolds, you dumb fuck." Josef retorted, "And he called me here because I happen to care about Rory. Unlike you, because if you even gave a damn about her, you wouldn't have been such a jackass and she wouldn't have left the apartment. It's your fault she-"

"JOSEF! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mick shouted, but it was too late. At Josef's accusations, Dante let out a low growl, which soon turned into an enraged howl. At the words 'It's your fault', Dante had lost all control of his temper and threw himself at the significantly older vampire. He didn't seem to care about the fact that, at less than a year old, he was still a fledgling, nor about the fact that Josef, being over 400 years old, was not only stronger, faster, and more powerful, but that he'd had several centuries of experience in fighting. All Dante cared about was the fact that Josef was encroaching on _his_ territory, _his_ Rory. Dante could barely think past the primal urge within him that was screaming for him to tear Josef to pieces. Furthermore, he was driven by the consuming guilt he felt at the biting truth of Josef's words. The combination drove him near the point of insanity, and the only thought that ran through his mind was that he wanted, no, he _needed_ to kill.

The fight was short but furious. Blood and pieces of furniture and chunks of skin went flying in every direction as the two viciously tore at each other. Howls and grunts and sickening snaps filled the air, the two enraged vampires being beyond the point of words. Though Josef was older, Dante knew how to hold his own, not to mention that his rage was giving him a significant boost in strength, even for a vampire. As Josef pinned Dante to the ground beneath him and began clawing and punching his face viciously, Mick knew it was time to step in. With a frustrated, furious howl, he jumped off the couch and lunged at his two friends, surprising them as he tore them apart and threw them into the walls on opposite sides of the room.

Still vamped out, looking angrily at his two shocked best friends on either side of the room, Mick stood in place, breathing heavily in and out.

"You two have unresolved issues. I get it." He started angrily, still looking back and forth between the two. "And our current situation has us all angry and looking for a fight. Okay, fine. But tearing each other's throats out like wild animals solves NOTHING!" Mick shouted the last word, clearly venting some of his own stress at the moment. The other two were silent. Mick took a deep but unnecessary breath to steady himself before continuing in a dangerously low voice, "Now, you're going to stop this pointless bullshit right here, right now, or _so help me God_," he growled his emphasis on those four words, "I will stake the both of you and leave you out in the middle of the desert at high noon. Save it for when we find Reynolds." Mick stopped talking. Dante and Josef began to growl at each other once more. "I SAID ENOUGH!!" Mick snarled, barely managing to sound human. The other two stopped immediately. Even Josef was taken aback. He'd known Mick for over half a century, and never had he seen him so…_vengeful_.

There was a quiet sound from the doorway of Mick's office, something between a cough and a squeak. Ryder stood there, looking scared, as though he thought that the other three vampires might turn their rage on him once they noticed him.

"Uh…hem…look, I'm really sorry to have to interrupt but…you might want to see this. N-now would be preferable…"

"What is it Ryder?" Mick interrupted, a little more impatiently than was necessary. Ryder looked even more terrified, if that was even possible. He was more of a "Make peace, not war" sort of vampire, having been turned in the seventies. Needless to say, he liked to avoid conflict if he could help it.

"Uh…it-it looks like your guy wants to have a chat with you via web cam." Ryder stammered.

At this, Mick perked up immediately. The conflict between Dante and Mick momentarily forgotten, all three of them rushed immediately into the office. As they rushed past, Ryder gave a small squeak and jumped out of the way. Mick sat in the chair in front of his computer, Josef and Dante each looking over one of his shoulders. Ryder silently seated himself in front of his own computer equipment, some of the equipment he was actually able to move here from Josef's office, given the short notice, and proceeded to prepare to track the signal. He gave Mick a small nod to Mick, indicating that he was ready to begin tracking the signal, and Mick clicked the "answer" button in the box telling him that he had a call waiting. He was instantly met with a picture of a man with jet-black hair and cold, hard, ruthless green eyes. The man wore a smug smile as he stared at his computer screen.

"Hello, St. John. It seems we finally have a chance to talk face-to-face. Well…sort of." The man's grin grew even wider. "I trust you recognize me by now."

"Reynolds." Mick growled into the mic that Ryder had hurriedly set up. "Where are Beth and Rory? What have you done with them?"

The smile faded somewhat on the other man's face. "Straight to business, I see…pity. I've been looking forward to this opportunity to get better acquainted for quite a while now. After all, you seem to be the only person to have been able to figure me out thus far-"

"WHERE ARE THEY?" Mick shouted, becoming incredibly impatient by the man's avoidance of his question.

"Fine, fine." Reynolds sighed, sounding bored. Apparently, this wasn't exactly how he'd pictured this meeting would go. Mick watched the screen as Reynolds bent his head down and typed something into his computer. A second later, Mick's screen was filled with an image, most likely from a security camera, of Rory and Beth's motionless bodies in what looked like a small partition of a basement. Anger and fear flooded through Mick. Why weren't they moving? They weren't…they couldn't possibly be…

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU KILLED THEM!" Mick roared, his eyes bleeding silver and his fangs extending.

A ruthless chuckle came through the speakers of Mick's computer.

"Calm down, Mick. You wouldn't want anyone getting a glimpse of those fangs, would you?" Mick stopped dead. There was no camera on his end, so how…? "Yes, St. John. I know what you are. I've been watching you for a long time, now. I know of the vampire cleverly concealed by your human façade." He grinned, a horrible, terrifying grin. "You know, I'm actually hurt that you think so little of me. No, they're not dead. I haven't killed them. Yet." He added with a cruel laugh.

"What do you want?" Mick growled, forcing himself to calm down.

"I propose a trade." The other man replied matter-of-factly, his demeanour turning suddenly businesslike. "It's simple, really. You've found me out. You've discovered the truth. You have some annoyingly incriminating evidence implicating me in those recent murders. So here's the deal. I'll divulge you the information on their location in exchange for all of the evidence you possess implicating me. Simple, easy…everybody wins."

"Except the women you'll continue to kill if we go along with this." Mick replied coldly.

Zachary gave a genuinely entertained laugh. "It's not like you have much of a choice in this matter. The simple fact is, if you don't, I'll continue to kill women anyway, only your precious Aurora and Elizabeth will die as well."

Mick snarled a frustrated snarl. He knew he was defeated; knew Reynolds was currently holding all the cards.

"Name your terms." Mick growled. Zachary smiled maliciously. He had Mick St. John exactly where he wanted him.

MLMLMLMLML

Rory awoke to the sharp painful sensation of something chewing on the fingers of her left hand. She spent most of her time shifting in and out of consciousness, her body too weak to maintain extended periods of consciousness. The heat and humidity began to play tricks on her mind as she lay there, and she nearly gagged at the stench of decomposition that hung heavy in the air; no doubt due to the fact that they had spent too long outside of the freezer, combined with the stifling heat around them. She wasn't ever sure how long they had been trapped there like animals, the hours seeming to melt together in an eternity of torment and suffering.

Rory struggled to shift her position enough to be able to see what it was that was causing her pain. As she looked down at her hand, she was horrified to see that a large, furry rodent, no doubt thinking that she was dead, was beginning to nibble at her hand. Suddenly, her ears were filled with the fast pitter-patter of the creature's heart, its veins visible to her through its thick fur. The blood was singing, calling to the vampire that lay dormant. Her eyes bled silver as she watched it, waiting, preparing…

…And then, in a move that sapped her of all remaining strength, Rory quickly lifted her hand and, before the rodent even had time to register what was happening, her hand came crashing back down on top of it, snapping its neck and severing its brainstem instantly. As the creature's heart stilled, Rory lay there, panting, resting in an attempt to regain enough strength to bring the creature's tiny corpse to her mouth.

After what seemed like an eternity of just lying there, she finally managed to summon enough strength to grasp the furry creature and bring it to her face. Somewhere in the semi-conscious recesses of her starved, overheated brain, she noted briefly that the rodent appeared to be a mole before losing the ability for conscious thought. Instinct took over as she brought the dead mole to her parched, cracked lips, sank her fangs into it, and drank hungrily. Under any normal circumstances, the creature's blood would have tasted revolting. Rory was so far gone, however, that it was the sweetest thing she'd ever tasted in her entire existence. She drained the creature ravenously, draining it dry of all of its life fluid. She continued to try to drink long after the last drop of the creature's blood had been devoured, her consciousness surrendered to the ravenous vampire, making thought impossible. As the vampire finally realized that there was simply no more blood to be had, it flung the rodent aside angrily and gave a frustrated wail.

Rory returned to herself, forcing the vampire back down, as Beth stirred in the corner. She wasn't sure exactly how long it had been since she'd fed Beth her own blood, but it had helped at least for a little while. As time had worn on, however, Beth had begun to drift in and out of consciousness as well, and had only brief moments of lucidity before becoming babbling and incoherent again. Rory had even watched helplessly as Beth had suffered several fits of what appeared to be seizures before slipping into an extended period of unconsciousness. Half the time, Rory was unable to tell whether Beth was unconscious, or if she had succumbed to starvation. She was utterly relieved when Beth would regain momentary consciousness long enough to babble something incoherent and lose consciousness once more. At least it told Rory that Beth was still alive and fighting.

"…Rory?" Beth whispered, and Rory half-dragged herself over to where Beth lay, unable to even lift her head. "Rory…it's so hot in here. I'm so…so hungry…" Beth managed to get out weakly as Rory came to sit by her side.

"I know, Beth." Rory whispered back, tears in her eyes. She was sure her best friend was dying, and yet she had no idea how to help her, or how long she could hold on. She was happy, at least, that Beth was having one of her few moments of clarity. "But just hold on a little longer, okay? Mick will come and get us out of here soon. You've just got to keep it together for a little while."

Beth nodded once, so slightly that it was barely imperceptible. "Mick…" She whispered, before her eyes unfocused and her head tilted to the side, her eyes beginning to drop.

"Beth…come on, Beth…stay with me!" Rory said frantically, shaking her best friend as she slipped once more into unconsciousness. If she could just manage to keep Beth awake and coherent then maybe…just maybe, she could manage to keep her alive long enough for Mick to arrive. "Beth!"

Beth had already slipped back into unconsciousness. Rory gave a frustrated snarl; tears beginning to drip down her dirty face. She hated not knowing…not knowing if Beth would wake up lucid or incoherent…not knowing if Beth would wake up at all. And she hated the solitude…being left alone for hours with only her own thoughts for comfort. Considering their situation, her thoughts themselves weren't very comforting at all. She needed another person, someone…anyone…to keep her from losing it and going completely insane.

As Rory sat there silently cursing her current situation, a now all-too familiar pain suddenly overwhelmed her. Her stomach ached and she writhed in agony. Since she'd been trapped there, she'd managed to catch four rodents, three rats and the mole she'd just drained, and drank from all of them. After each one, she'd been struck by the horrible protests of her insides. She knew now that it was simply a reaction to drinking animal blood. Vampires, having been engineered to consume human blood exclusively, had a difficult time processing the blood of animals. Because animal blood carried more impurities than human blood, not to mention the fact that the blood itself was foreign, the vampire's body would have difficulty breaking it down, thus they would have violent attacks of pain.

As the pain overwhelmed Rory, she curled up into the fetal position and rocked back and forth, whimpering quietly, all the while praying to whatever God happened to be listening at that particular moment that Mick and Josef would hurry up and come for them.

MLMLMLMLML

Mick, Josef, and Dante all stood waiting at the designated drop spot. Mick had been strongly considering leaving Josef and Dante at the loft, but quickly realized that if he did so he would return to find his apartment in shambles and one or both of them dead. So, having no other alternative, he had grudgingly brought them along, giving them a warning that, should they start anything, he had a stake with each of their names on it. Needless to say, it had been a surprisingly quiet trip.

Mick looked at his watch and swore loudly. Reynolds had insisted they wait two agonizingly long hours before heading to the drop spot. Mick knew that every second they wasted, the chances that Rory and Beth would come out of this okay grew slim, but unfortunately he didn't have much choice in the matter. Reynolds held all the cards right now, and therefore called all the shots. Mick had to admit; despite the fact that Zachary Reynolds was a total psychopath, he knew how to get what he wanted.

All three vampires were pacing anxiously back and forth; and although they weren't saying anything to each other, Dante and Josef were glaring dangerously at each other and, without fully even realizing it, circling each other.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a beat-up old Chevrolet rolled into the parking lot. Mick approached the car quickly, followed by Dante and Josef. The window of the car rolled down as they approached.

"Mick St. John?" The rough-looking man, most likely a former convict, questioned.

"Yeah, that's me." Mick replied. He slipped a large, thick manila envelope out of his trench coat pocket and handed it to the stranger in the car. "Everything's there…there are no copies. I held up my end of the bargain. Now where are they?"

The man didn't respond. Instead, he handed Mick a piece of folded paper.

"Go to the payphone in front of this building one hour from now. Zachary will phone you with the information."

"Now, hold on a minute, that wasn't part of the-"

"Mr. Reynolds prefers to exchange the information over a secure, untraceable line. He's a very precautious person." The man responded, "And since it appears that you haven't got much of a choice in the matter, I suggest you go and wait by the phone."

With that, the man rolled up the window of the car and sped away. Mick let out an enraged growl and began attacking the nearby dumpster, until Josef and Dante had to forcibly restrain him.

"Mick, this won't do anything to help the situation." Josef told Mick as he struggled to keep the angry vampire restrained, "Come on…let's just go wait at the payphone."

After some persuasion, Josef was finally able to get Mick calmed down enough to get him into the car and make their way to the payphone.

MLMLMLMLML

The hour had come and gone, and Josef, Mick, and Dante were all waiting anxiously beside the payphone indicated to them. They all jolted as the payphone began to ring suddenly.

"Reynolds." Mick growled, after grabbing the phone at the first ring.

"Hello, St. John." Zachary responded smugly, "I'm glad to see you're good to your word. Your co-operation was most pleasing."

Mick suppressed the growl that threatened to tear from his chest. "Alright. I stuck to my word, now you stick to yours. Tell me where Beth and Rory are."

There was a cold silence on the other end that chilled Mick to the core. Soon the line was filled with an even icier chuckle.

"You've stuck to your word, and so I've stuck to mine. You see, there's something you should know about me, Mick. I like a challenge…and I like issuing them. You see, you've intrigued me from the start St. John. You've figured me out when no one else has been able to. I'd like to see just how brilliant an investigator you truly-"

"YOU SICK SADISTIC BASTARD!" Mick roared into the phone. "YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME ANYTHING!"

"Oh, but I have." Reynolds replied with another cold chuckle. "I've told you multiple times already. You just have yet to figure it out." There was a momentary pause, "And I suggest you figure it out soon, Mick. The full moon's in a few days' time. If they even last that long."

With a last ruthless chuckle, Reynolds hung up.

Mick just stood there, receiver still in hand, looking at the other two vampires, who'd listened to the whole conversation. They looked back at him with the same terrified expression.

TBC…

AN: Yeah, I know. I really am evil. I make you wait sooooo long for an update, and now that I finally give you one, I make it an evil cliffie. :D But you know me…I'm an addict. Just can't resist them. So here it is! And hopefully I won't have to take so long before the next update. Life's busy, you know, in between sleeping and on-line coursework and burning waffles for ritual sacrifice, it's hard to get a spare moment to write. So just bear with me.

Love always, Cat.


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